Do you own or run a London restaurant or bar? If so, you probably know that a large part of your valuable time is spent trying to rid your building of pests. Here are three useful guidelines and tips for controlling your restaurant or bar, along with why it’s best to hire a professional pest control company.
WHY PESTS ARE A BIG PROBLEM FOR LONDON RESTAURANTS AND BARS: CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
Insects and rodents are a major issue for London restaurants and bars. The four main types of pests include mice, rats, house flies, cockroaches and ants. There are even some sparrows and pigeons that find their way into London eateries and bars.
Outdoor garbage dumpsters
One of the biggest contributing factors is garbage dumpsters. Just like flies and rodents, pests gravitate to rubbish and organic waste materials. That’s why you can usually spot them wherever there’s debris from foods, such as in and around garbage cans.
Restaurant and bar lighting
Another reason for pests is your outdoor lighting, which is why you can typically find pests gathering around outdoor light bulbs. On the other hand, cockroaches and other pests stay away from brightly-lit areas. Therefore, if you lack sufficient lighting in your restaurant or bar, there is a good chance you’ll see these pests.
Entrances and exits
Your restaurant entrances and exits are another contributing factor. Thus, it’s important you focus on these areas if you have a pest infestation problem.
- CREATE A WORKABLE PEST CONTROL PLAN
It’s important to set up an effective and workable pest control plan. For example, decide who’ll be handling your pest control. Will you delegate the job to a trained team on your staff, or will you hire a professional pest control company?
Determine the areas in which you need pest control in your facility, including both the inside and outside of your building. Next, decide on the kind of pest control. Will you use a form of physical pest management, or will you control pests chemically?
Choose the types of tools or equipment that you’ll use, along with the frequency of treatments. Will it be twice a month, once a month or every other month? Finally, determine the process you’ll need to carry out the pest management and how you want it to be done.
- USE TRAPS
If you’re going to use traps for catching rodents, either inside or outside of your premises, place these traps in the locations where you can expect to find pests, such as near food storage, dumpster areas and other spots.
Besides checking your traps or bait stations regularly for removing any dead pests, number the areas or traps where you keep them. Also, be sure to document the traps to make monitoring easier.
Finally, carefully remove and dispose of the old or infested baits to prevent infestation.
- USE CHEMICALS
Rodent control
To chemically get rid of rodents, use rodenticides, which are special chemicals made for killing rodents. Consider that you’ll need to be extremely careful since there’s a strong chance of rodents carrying the poison to other areas in which foods and food items may be stored.
Insect control
Insecticides are used for getting rid of insects, such as cockroaches, spiders, mosquitoes, flies and other restaurant pests. After closing your restaurant and making sure everyone is out of the facility, have a highly trained exterminator fumigate your entire building on the inside and exterior. After doing this, allow some time before reopening your business to customers. What’s more, thoroughly wash your equipment as well as other items in a room that’s been fumigated so that you can avoid contamination.
OTHER TIPS, CONSIDERATIONS AND WARNINGS
- Maintain a spotless kitchen—Consider how just a single crumb can lead to rodents and ants invading your kitchen. That’s why it’s important to clean your food prep and cooking area daily or think about hiring a professional cleaner.
- When using chemicals, always follow the instructions and guidelines posted on the labels.
- It’s safer and more effective to use a highly trained pest control company.
- In the long run, it can cost you more money if you don’t effectively get rid of insects and rodents. Consider that when you have pests running freely in and around your premises, you can get a bad reputation and lose customers.
- Furthermore, the damage from pests can take a long time for your business to recover financially.
- Untreated pest infestations can result in your restaurant or bar being closed if you don’t immediately take care of the problem.
A significant part of keeping your business free of pests is ensuring it’s kept clean and free of garbage. Pest control is only one of our many services. Contact us and learn more about how we can help you keep your building clean as well as get rid of restaurant and bar pests.
