What’s it all about? January 24, 2022

Article from INNSA – www.innsa.org

Invasive weed control is a relatively new market. While companies have offered and specialised in commercial grounds maintenance and grass-cutting operations for hundreds of years, the specific market of invasive species management has only become a commercially-viable offshoot in the last twenty-five years.

The methodologies for invasive weed control are, in some cases, different from traditional grounds maintenance, which has given opportunity for some unscrupulous marketing techniques. When inexperienced clients are advised that a five-to-ten year eradication strategy is required, it can be very tempting if a company comes to them and says – ‘We can kill it with one spray’ – and the lie will not be exposed for at least twelve months, by which time the contractor may well have shuttered or folded.

Unfortunately, one of the bigger challenges in the invasive weed control industry is being recognised for your skills and expertise in a relatively unregulated market where it seems easy to make claims that are never substantiated.

How many times have you been on a new company’s website and read, ‘The number one Japanese knotweed contractor’ – ‘The first Knotweed contractor’ – ‘100 years’ experience’ – ‘Lloyds-backed guarantees?

Stories abound of experienced companies losing out to one-man-band operations who promise work in timescales that they simply cannot deliver. Cheap prices are submitted by inexperienced companies, when the reality is that the lack of job experience has led to a severe underestimate of the time and resources taken to eradicate invasive plant infestations – yet these tender prices lead to widespread expectation of such unfeasibly low prices.

So, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff?
Securing accreditations and being a member of a trade body would seem to be a good way to demonstrate that you are a credible company; however, the membership criteria often seem to consist solely of being able to pay a fee, with less focus on demonstrating skills, experience, knowledge and competence.

The Invasive Non-Native Specialists Association (INNSA) aims to recognise those companies that are of a higher quality and have greater experience than others in the field.

INNSA aims to attract larger commercial operators who carry out projects outside the domestic market; those who understand and demonstrate a proven track record with the particular methodologies that are specific to the invasive species remediation sector.

INNSA does not aim for a large membership. You will not see headlines stating that “new member numbers have exceeded all expectations”. You will not see an award for the 1,000th newly-approved member – there will simply never be that number of companies that meet the INNSA membership criteria.

While this may seem unfair to newer companies, INNSA simply aims to differentiate between newly-established businesses which do not have the business processes, the infrastructure and the experience of companies that have been trading for ten or even twenty years. Often ten- and twenty-year programmes of work are offered by companies that have only traded for only six months. To INNSA, this seems like a rather unsupportable proposition.

Many invasive species eradication strategies require periods running into several years to complete. For this reason, knowing that your chosen contractor has the resources, the management capacity and the experience to finish these works it is vital for a client who wants reliable service and value for money.

 

Mike Clough

INNSA Chairman

 

INNSA Welcomes New Chairman January 24, 2022

INNSA article

 

It is a great honour to be elected to the Chairmanship of the Invasive Non-Native Specialists Association (INNSA).

I would like to start by giving an overview of how we have arrived at the current position.

The early days of our industry in the United Kingdom involved a small handful of companies that had, in the course of their own works, recognised the need for dedicated management of invasive plant species. Most of the initial focus related to Japanese knotweed, because of the attention being given to a plant which was causing physical damage to buildings and delaying, damaging or devaluing development.

Whilst it would be great to be able to suggest that it was the environmental damage caused by Japanese knotweed that caused concern – the truth is that it was principally the cost implications of ignoring this plant that led to knotweed becoming the focus of developers, then lenders and then being heralded as Britain’s most problematic plant.

Initially there were no specific processes that were accepted as the approved method of eradication and a variety of innovative techniques were deployed in what was, at times, very much a ‘scatter gun’ approach in order to find reliable strategies. Some companies sprayed one chemical, some sprayed another, some recommended multiple visits and others suggested shorter timescales and higher dosages of herbicide. All had varied success.

The introduction of the Wildlife and Countryside Act in 1981 defined in law which species of invasive plants were deemed to be problematic and the Act made it illegal to plant or allow these species to spread. This was then followed by the Japanese Knotweed Code of Practice, written by Mr Trevor Renals and released by the Environment Agency. Heavy fines could be imposed on people or businesses that ignored the regulations and the industry had a clear set of rules which should be followed.

Agrochemical companies brought out new products and contractors became more creative with acronyms and application strategies.

Insurance became a hot potato, with companies offering “ten-year guarantees”, then “twenty-year guarantees”, then “lifetime guarantees”. These offers were not backed by insurance and were simply in-house products presented on a piece of letterhead with a fancy edge drawn on to give the impression of a legally binding document. Most, if not all, of these products were worthless.

It was at this point that many reputable contractors began to feel uncomfortable with the quality of service and advice being given by newcomers to the market. Television and newspaper articles had demonised Japanese knotweed and a plethora of new companies jumped onto the bandwagon of invasive plant control.

Companies were offering “secret” mixes of chemicals that “only they” had access to – despite the limited range of products available and the legal requirement that only approved pesticides could be used. Images of back pack sprayers with volatile chemical combinations were rife, with the potential environmental damage being inestimable.

Clients were increasingly unable to understand the various strategies and insurances that were being offered and the overall impact was a loss of faith in what was being said.

It was at this point that a group of concerned individuals – competitors in the market place, but united by concern for the future of their industry – decided to join forces to try to bring some sanity to the industry. INNSA was born.

As well as new companies flooding into the market, many existing companies moved into the industry who held qualifications in pesticides application through their work with damp proofing and timber preservation. These companies had experience of chemicals and had experience of the insurance products required by mortgage companies in relation to their areas of expertise.

INNSA did spend some significant time, effort and money securing insurance products for its members, both for domestic and commercial projects, but take-up from members was relatively low, reflecting the lack of direct interest in products which were principally brought into the market to satisfy lenders looking to protect lending on domestic products.

The INNSA membership’s focus on larger commercial sites meant that these products were generally being used for housebuilders and the relatively small proportion of their turnover that came from domestic clients.

It is becoming increasingly clear over the first decade of INNSA’s existence that the membership is focussed on the bigger jobs and bigger clients in the industry – and therefore that INNSA itself must focus on retaining and attracting those members who have the capability to deliver at this more specialised end of the industry.

I aim for my chairmanship not to be characterised by the pursuit of large numbers of new members, catering for lenders and domestic clients or the investment of more of INNSA’s resources into obtaining additional insurance products; I want to focus on the quality and capability of INNSA’s membership, who I view as the best in the industry.

Mike Clough
INNSA Chairman

20 YEARS January 19, 2022

On the 1st of February this year we celebrate 20 years of Japanese Knotweed Solutions Ltd.

Quite a milestone yet it seems like only yesterday I was talking about setting up a company to deal with just one plant.

I can clearly remember people (including my wife) who thought this was a stupid idea. Luckily, I tend not to listen to others and am pretty confident in my approach to business. Also, luckily I didn’t require any borrowing to set the company up as I had funds from the landscape architecture practice that I had been running since the age of twenty. I say ‘luckily’ as I’m sure if I had required overdraft or funds then the bank at the time would have refused on the grounds that this was an untried business approach.

When I first broached the idea of Japanese Knotweed Solutions Ltd most people response was ‘Japanese… whatweed???’ …nobody (apart from a select few) had heard of the plant let alone the problems it could cause.

We were the first (and only) company that offered to deal with just one species of plant.

This was a niche company and could have failed very quickly had we not hit the market at the right time.

Our approach to marketing the company was blunt. We offended some people with our graphics and our straight to the point message, but we got through to the people that mattered and we began to gain traction.

Our first major project was in North Manchester where a London based developer had been quoted £3 million to remove Japanese knotweed from their development site – a figure which had not been allowed within the budget costs. We were already working for the client on the landscape design of the site and offered to look at alternate strategies – offering a price of just over £280K to provide a chemical treatment option. This was accepted and works were carried out to the full satisfaction of all involved.

So the story began.

Our name spread and our reputation grew – almost as quickly as Japanese knotweed itself.

At the time we were the only company offering a single species approach and we were often the only company that could price for Knotweed removal.

One notable project that sticks in my mind was in Gorton where we quoted £23K to deal with the problem plant. We were contacted by the client’s quantity surveyor who said ‘we want you to do the job but we have an alternate quote of £20K – if you match that price I will give you the order today’

Knowing that nobody else would be able to provide a quote- I said ‘ if you have a price of £20K you should go with them’ – I then ended the call.

A few minutes later the owner of the company came on the phone – ‘I’m really sorry the QS was trying it on – we can give you an order for £23K’

I said – ‘it’s now £25K in cleared funds up front’

I know, I know …. different world though.

We now have multiple competitors, some good, some bad, some I would consider to be friends. It’s a whole different ball game out there.

I still would suggest that we are the best Knotweed company in the UK and would happily sit on any project large or small and say that we provide the best service available.

After twenty years you do build a certain amount of skill and experience… and we’ve seen knotweed in just about every type of project you could imagine …and probably one or two that you just simply wouldn’t believe.

To hear more, contact us for a presentation on twenty years of Japanese Knotweed Solutions.

 

Mike C

 

Growing Problems January 5, 2022

One of the misunderstood issues with dealing with invasive species is that it can take a while for problems to appear.

If, for example, you have a contractor dig and remove your Knotweed growth in late season – simply because of seasonality – nothing will even begin to re-grow until Spring. So, your average crappy contractor stands back and says to you – look what a great job we’ve done, there’s no re-growth.

I’ve even had clients tell me of contractors showing them Knotweed dying back and losing its leaves …and they have taken credit for this fact …. when actually it’s just the Autumn season and the plant is preparing for winter.

If fragments of root and rhizome are left in the soil during a removal exercise – these fragments may not show within your development for several months. Again, this gives the unscrupulous contractor ‘time’ to move on and distance themselves from any blame.

Now that Japanese knotweed removal has become a larger market, we are finding more and more problem sites beginning to appear. These are sites that have been done cheaply with rates that have undercut the more experienced companies.

It’s a fairly simple equation –

If contractor ‘one’ prices to dig 2 metres + of root and rhizome from site at ‘x’ cost.

Then dodgy contractor ‘two’ wants to undercut this price – all he has to do is dig only 500mm of root and rhizome from site at a cost of ‘y’….leaving the rest of the plant in the ground.

The problems may not begin to appear for two or three seasons after the works have been done …but believe me this is going to come back and bite you in the ass. Your clients know what Knotweed is…and they know what it can do to their house price …so they aren’t going to let you get away with any half ass excuse.

PLEASE believe me when I say this is happening folks all over the country – we regularly get calls from clients who chose cheaper contractors than ourselves and now have major issues on their hands.

PLEASE.

Do it once.

Do it properly.

 

Mike C