CHAIRMAN’S UPDATE JANUARY 2016
One of the main reasons for setting up the Invasive Non Native Specialists Association was the number of dubious companies making statements that they just couldn’t back up. ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ seem to be the order of the day with dodgy companies making the most of the fact that many people just didn’t understand how to eradicate Japanese Knotweed.
Methodologies were being offered that were based on using ‘secret ingredients’ and ‘mixes of chemical’ that had no Environment agency approval – and guarantees were being issued with no insurance backing therefore not being worth the paper they were written on…
Prices were being offered that just confused clients – with costs often ranging from ridiculously high to almost laughably low – this resulted in the industry quite rightly being viewed with suspicion.
When the idea of INNSA first came to me I contacted the main players in the industry and found that pretty much all of them agreed with setting a series of standards that could be seen by all as the BEST way to deal with Japanese Knotweed.
If there was an agreed standard for every methodology – then nobody could cut corners.
These are the standards to which every INNSA member must adhere – and are all clearly shown on the Trade Body website.
So moving forward a few months… it unfortunately depresses me to find that certain companies still think they can write their own rule book and run rough shod over every other company out there.
Any business owner in their right mind will realise that NOBODY will only ever use just one company. In my role as a business owner, rather than Chairman of INNSA, I understand that whenever I present to – say – a major house builder …they won’t ever JUST use JKSL they want a competitive market where they know that they are getting value for money and a sharp pencil at every job that we look at.
What the client wants is a level playing field where the prices they get are reasonable and can be compared like for like.
What nobody wants are renegade companies who offer methods that don’t work and make promises that simply cannot be upheld. All this does is ruin the marketplace for every other company out there.
Please make sure you use a member of INNSA when asking for prices to deal with invasive weed problems – this will give you peace of mind and a guaranteed project success.
Avoid the cowboys.
Mike C