About Acheta

Acheta is a collaboration of three independent pest control consultancy businesses, and was first established by Adrian Meyer and Mike Kelly in 1995. Adrian and Mike continue to operate their businesses as sole traders. Dr John Simmons joined in 2000, founding Acheta Consulting Ltd in 2001.

Dr John Simmons BSC, PhD
Managing Director, Acheta Consulting Ltd

John’s pest control career started in the late 1980’s with National Britannia. As a technician, field biologist and service manager he gained extensive experience in a wide range of public health and food storage pest control activities. As Technical Manager of the British Pest Control Association (BPCA), from 1992 to 1997, he was responsible for the Association’s training and certification schemes and, as Technical Manager of Igrox from 1997 to 2001 further commercial experience was gained, primarily in large sites storing or processing cereal-based food products. John was the main driver behind the development of the BPCA’s Certificated Field Biologist examination, being responsible for much of the content of that exam. In July 2008 he was elected to Council of the Society for Food Hygiene and Technology, and has since been appointed Membership Development Director of that organisation.

Other employees within Acheta Consulting Ltd:

Scott Baillie BSc

Scott is a Zoology graduate, and has worked in pest control since the late 1980’s. He started as a technician with Rentokil and progressed through to Field Biologist. Moving to Igrox in the early 1990’s, Scott was instrumental, first as a technician, then field biologist and ultimately as Northern Region Manager, in building a portfolio of high profile food industry customers. Scott stayed with Igrox through that company’s acquisition of the pest control business of Dynokil, and joined Acheta in January 2006. He is a BPCA Certificated Field Biologist, has passed Level 4 Food Safety, and holds the SPA Food and Drink Safety passport.

Mark Bowron

Mark started his pest control career with National Britannia (later Terminix, then Ecolab) in 1996. He has worked extensively in food manufacturing, with suppliers to the major retailers, and in the distribution and retail outlets of those retailers. Mark was one of the first to implement Ecolab’s web based reporting systems. In September 1999, he completed a two-year part-time study course in Integrated Pest Management, supported by Birmingham University. In 2003 he passed the industry standard BPCA Part 2 examination, attaining the highest score of that year’s candidates. He has passed both Level 4 Food Safety and the BPCA’s Certificated Field Biologist exams, passing both with distinction. he joined Acheta in 2007.

Chris Swindells BSc

Chris is an Applied Biology graduate and started in pest control in 2000. He worked his way from technician to regional operations manager with ISS Pest Control, before joining Acheta in 2009. He has worked widely in the food industry, and also extensively within hospitals, hotels and catering facilities. He has passed Level 4 Food Safety and IOSH Managing Safely. 

Ian Adamson BSc

Ian's pest control career started in 1998, after graduating in Biology as a mature student. Working with Dynokil, later Igrox, he was instrumental in the devlopment and implementation of the in-house technician training scheme. He has wide experience within the food industry and joined Acheta in 2010. He is a BPCA Certificated Field Biologist.

The Acheta Consulting team (L to R) Chris, Scott, Mark and John (Ian has joined since!)

  Other consultants working under the Acheta banner are:

 Mike Kelly CBiol, MIBiol, FRES, MIFST

Mike joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1967 at the Harpenden Laboratory, moving to the Regional Pests Service at Liverpool in 1968. Thus exposed to storage and public health invertebrate pests, they have remained his life's interest. He moved to Hull in 1972, Lincoln in 1983 and the Central Science Laboratory in 1990, always working with storage and public health insects and mites. Since 1995 Mike has chaired the British Standards lnstitution's Cereals & Pulses Committee.

Mike has also worked widely overseas: Mali for 2 years on a grain storage project and shorter consultancies in Ghana, Syria, Jordan, Gaza, The West Bank, Italy, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Burkina Faso, Madeira, India and Hong Kong, on food storage and infestation problems. He continues to oversee the "farm-to-export" quality assurance programme for a major tobacco exporting company in India.

Adrian Meyer MSc

Adrian graduated with a Master of Science degree in ecology and population dynamics from Durham University. He joined the London Pests Unit (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food) in the mid '70s as a vertebrate pest specialist advising Local Authorities in Greater London, and running the pest control operations in Crown Properties, Adrian gained an extensive practical knowledge of the problems of applying pest control strategies. Subsequent postings in MAFF to the south-west and south-east of England expanded this experience.

In MAFF's Central Science Laboratory Adrian extended his pest control experience into the food industry, as a specialist consultant, through managing the Food Protection Association, and in developing the Modular Pest Control programme.

Adrian has worked extensively overseas, undertaking vertebrate consultancies for a range of commercial and governmental organisations.