Richard Moseley, business manager at Syngenta Professional Solutions, and Kevin Lawrenson, NPTA chief executive, tell Simon King about The Syngenta NPTA 5<25 Professional Futures programme, an initiative to bring young people into the industry
Addressing the recruitment challenge that the industry faces is significant and the launch in March of The Syngenta NPTA 5<25 Professional Futures programme aims to find five individuals under the age of 25, who the organisers will share the cost of putting them through the RSPH Level 2 qualification.
Kevin Lawrenson, NPTA chief executive, said: “One of the real challenges is an aging industry, it’s getting older, and we need to find the next generation of pest controllers. Working with Syngenta, we’re trying to make a difference; if we put our feet forward, then maybe others will follow.”
Richard Moseley, business manager at Syngenta Professional Solutions and a board member of NPTA, said: “Kevin has been doing a great job at NPTA, and we’ve been having discussions about what can we do going forward to support members, but also drive young people into the industry.
“What can we do to encourage members to bring young people into the industry? We said, it would be quite interesting if we, as a manufacturer, worked with a trade association to see how we could support young people.”
Mr Moseley said the programme may well be the driver that encourages NPTA members to take on a new member of staff and grow their business.
“From my point of view as a manufacturer, it’s nice to talk about products, but it’s also useful and really nice to talk about other aspects of how we develop and support the industry,” Mr Moseley said
“It’s not just about product in a bottle or rodenticide in a tub, it’s about what can we do from a stewardship/support point of view. We had this conversation, which went backwards and forwards, and we came up with the five under 25 idea – Syngenta will pay for half the training, and NPTA will pay the other half.
“That said, this isn’t just a Syngenta/NPTA thing. It’s a wider thing about, how we support our industry for the next 10, 25, 50 years, and make sure that it’s still here, with a thriving workforce.
Mr Lawrenson said that he and Mr Moseley had been blown away with the response from organisations, from people applying and support from people within the industry.
With so many applications, and only five places available, Mr Moseley said that there will be a selection process.
“There’s key criteria – they need to be NPTA members, and they need to be under 25,” Mr Moseley said.
“The application process goes through the Syngenta website, and within that application process, they’re able to put to write some information about why they want this opportunity. It’s important that people do write that because there’s competition for places.”
Mr Lawrenson added that he and Mr Moseley have pledged to support the five recruits throughout their career.
“They’ll always have access to us in terms of mentorship, or to give them advice through their career,” Mr Lawrenson said. “They could also be the poster for the next generation of pest controllers; it’s a real opportunity for people.”
Mr Moseley said the competition for places has been phenomenal, and that this initiative may run again in the future.
“I’ve been in the industry a long time, and I’m here to support it, not just to sell into it,” he said. “It’s just phenomenal; we couldn’t estimate what the reaction would be, and it’s been huge.”