In 2026, Dealey Environmental marks 70 years in the pest control and fumigation industry. Founded in 1956 by Dr Dealey, a dual-doctorate entomologist who left ICI with a terrier, a Rolls Royce and an encyclopaedic knowledge of insects, the company has grown from its origins in grain storage pest control into one of the UK’s most technically specialist environmental services businesses. Seven decades of experience across pest control, fumigation, bird control, insect control, and specialist cleaning represents a depth of knowledge that very few companies in any field can match.
Where Did Dealey Environmental Begin?
Dealey was founded in 1956, at a moment when British farming was changing rapidly. Farmers were beginning to store grain in bulk for the first time, and insect infestation in stored grain was becoming a serious and costly problem. Dr Dealey, who had left ICI with expertise in insects and a passion for farming, identified this gap and built a business around it.
The company’s roots in grain storage and commodity care have never left it. Agricultural pest control and grain fumigation remain core services today, carried out using methods refined and developed across seven decades of practical experience in the field.
In 1989, Dr Dealey sold the business to Henry Cobbald, who brought his own background in grain and farming to the role. The Dealey name was retained because it had already become synonymous with insect expertise. In 2009, Henry’s son Martin Cobbald took over as Managing Director, and under his leadership the business has expanded significantly in both scale and scope.
How Has the Business Changed Over 70 Years?
The company that exists today bears the hallmarks of its founding, but the service portfolio looks very different from what Dr Dealey started with. The core principle, applying deep entomological and environmental knowledge to real-world pest problems, has remained constant. The tools, technologies, and services offered have evolved considerably.
Key milestones in the company’s development include:
- 1956: Dr Dealey founds the business, specialising in insect control for grain storage and agricultural pest management
- 1989: The business is acquired by Henry Cobbald, preserving the Dealey name and its reputation for technical insect expertise
- 2009: Martin Cobbald takes over as Managing Director, with a focus on growth, innovation, and service expansion
- 2015: Acquisition of Cambridge-based Step Pest Control Ltd adds commercial and industrial pest control to the Dealey portfolio
- 2018: Falconry services are introduced, expanding the bird control offering into one of the most effective non-lethal deterrents available
- 2019: Dealey becomes the sole registered user in the UK of Bluefume, a hydrogen cyanide-based structural fumigant, a position it still holds today
- 2020s: Two further business acquisitions, growth of the Midlands team, and continued expansion of the fumigation, insect control, and bird pest control services
The fleet has grown to sixteen fully equipped vehicles. The team now covers agricultural, commercial, industrial, food production, education, and retail sectors across the UK, with specialist capabilities in fumigation consultancy that give Dealey a national presence.
What Pest Control Services Does Dealey Offer Today?
Across 70 years, Dealey has built a service portfolio that covers the full range of environmental pest management. The breadth of services reflects both the growth of the business and the breadth of pest problems that UK businesses face.
Commercial and Industrial Pest Control
Dealey’s commercial pest control service covers rodent control, insect treatment, flea and pest control, wasp pest control, and general pest management across offices, warehouses, food production facilities, retail environments, and industrial sites. All technicians hold RSPH Level 2 qualification as a minimum, and the team operates a fully paperless electronic reporting system to support audit and compliance requirements.
Pest control for food manufacturers operates under the most demanding conditions, with full support for BRC audits, supermarket standard compliance, and online customer portals that give clients real-time access to compliance documents, audit trails, and service schedules.
Agricultural Pest Control and Grain Store Management
Agricultural pest control has been central to Dealey’s work since 1956. Pest control on farms includes rodent control with environmental risk assessments, grain store insecticide treatments using DEFRA-approved chemicals, Grain Care monitoring programmes, and admix treatments for long-term grain storage. Dealey guides clients through farm assurance audit processes including TASCC, ACCS, and Red Tractor.
Fumigation Services
Dealey operates one of the largest fumigation teams in the UK. Fumigation services include grain fumigation, grain store fumigation, building fumigation, aircraft fumigation, and container fumigation. Dealey is the only UK-licensed company to use Bluefume, a structural fumigant with a global warming potential of 7, making it significantly less environmentally damaging than other registered building fumigants. Every fumigation treatment is certified with a clearance certificate on completion.
Managing Director Martin Cobbald has previously chaired the Fumigation and Controlled Environments Committee and maintains a regular presence as a fumigation consultant nationwide, giving Dealey a depth of technical authority that is rare in the sector.
Bird Control
Dealey’s bird control service covers the full spectrum of methods: bird abatement falconry, bird proofing, bird netting, bird spikes, post and wire systems, Avix laser deterrents, gull population control, gutter cleaning and guarding, and bird guano decontamination. All technicians are IPAF-trained for work at height, and the team is licensed and qualified to carry out egg and nest removal under Natural England licence where required.
Insect Control
Dealey’s insect control service is rooted in the entomological specialism that Dr Dealey brought to the business in 1956. The team applies integrated pest management principles across sectors where stored product insects, flying insects, crawling insects, and mites present problems for food safety, agricultural storage, and operational hygiene.
Specialist Cleaning
Pest control and specialist cleaning often go hand in hand. Dealey’s cleaning services support pest control programmes by removing contamination, guano, and pest debris from affected areas, preparing surfaces for proofing installation, and reducing the conditions that allow pest populations to establish or re-establish.
What Has Stayed the Same Across 70 Years?
While the scale, tools, and service range have expanded enormously, a number of principles have remained consistent throughout Dealey’s 70 years.
The first is technical depth. Dr Dealey built his business on genuine expertise rather than generic solutions. That commitment to understanding the biology and behaviour of pests, and finding solutions specific to each site and situation, is still at the centre of how the business operates. Dealey describes its team as pest geeks, and the description is accurate: the combination of entomological knowledge and field experience is what distinguishes the service.
The second is an orientation towards prevention and deterrence rather than reaction. Dealey’s preferred outcome, as stated in its own approach, is to move from extermination to monitoring, reducing the frequency of treatments needed over time. This sits at the heart of good integrated pest management practice and reflects how the business thinks about client relationships: the goal is long-term site protection, not repeated call-outs.
The third is confidentiality. Pest problems are not the kind of thing most businesses want publicised. Dealey has always operated discreetly, treating client information with care, and this remains part of how the business positions itself, particularly for food manufacturers, retailers, and commercial sites where reputation is directly tied to hygiene standards.
Why Does Experience Matter When Choosing a Pest Control Company?
When searching for a pest control company or a local pest controller, it is easy to focus on price and availability. Experience, however, determines the quality and reliability of what you actually get.
Across 70 years, Dealey has encountered and resolved pest problems that would not appear in a standard training manual. That accumulated knowledge matters in several concrete ways:
- Correct identification of species and infestation type, which determines the right treatment method and prevents wasted spend on ineffective approaches
- Knowledge of resistance patterns, particularly relevant for grain fumigation and rodent control, where certain chemicals have become less effective over time in some pest populations
- Audit and compliance experience across food production, agriculture, and industrial sectors, where incorrect pest control documentation can have serious commercial consequences
- Regulatory familiarity, including DEFRA licensing requirements, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 for bird control, Natural England licensing for gull population management, and fumigation safety legislation
- The ability to design bespoke solutions rather than applying a standard contract that may not match the specific challenges of a site
A pest control company with 70 years of continuous operation has solved problems that a newer business has not yet encountered. That matters when your grain store is at risk, your food production facility is facing a BRC audit, or your building has a gull colony that needs managing within a tightly regulated legal framework.
What Does Integrated Pest Management Mean in Practice?
Integrated pest management (IPM) is the approach that underpins how Dealey operates across all its services. Rather than defaulting to chemical treatment as the first response, IPM involves assessing the full picture of a pest problem, applying the least invasive effective measure available, and building in monitoring and prevention to reduce the likelihood of recurrence.
In practice, an IPM approach from Dealey looks like this:
- Site assessment first: A technician inspects the site to identify the pest, understand the conditions that are supporting it, and assess what entry points, harbourage areas, or food sources are contributing to the problem
- Non-chemical measures where possible: Proofing, exclusion, habitat modification, and deterrence are considered before chemical treatments are introduced
- Targeted chemical treatment where needed: Using DEFRA-approved products applied in a targeted way, following the Campaign for Responsible Rodenticide Use (CRRU) guidelines and all relevant environmental risk assessment requirements
- Monitoring over time: Regular site visits, electronic reporting, and trend analysis allow problems to be identified early, before they require the kind of intervention that costs more and disrupts operations
- Ongoing prevention: Advice on site management practices, structural improvements, and seasonal risk factors that reduce the conditions that attract pests in the first place
This approach applies whether Dealey is managing rodent control on a farm, conducting a grain store fumigation, installing bird netting on a commercial building, or running insect monitoring for a food manufacturer. The principle is consistent: understand the problem, apply the right solution, and build in the conditions for long-term success.
What Makes Dealey Different From Other Pest Control Services?
Several things distinguish Dealey’s position in the pest control market, all of which are rooted in the 70-year history of the business.
The most significant is the Bluefume exclusive. Dealey is the only UK-licensed company to use Bluefume as a structural fumigant, a position it has held since 2019. For businesses needing building fumigation, this is not a differentiator in the marketing sense; it is simply a fact. No other UK pest control company can offer this treatment. For flour mills, food factories, warehouses, and other structures where whole-building fumigation is required, Dealey is the only option for this specific fumigant.
The second is the combination of fumigation and pest control under one roof. Many pest control companies do not offer fumigation at all. Many fumigation companies do not offer the full range of commercial pest control services. Dealey offers both, along with bird control, insect control, and specialist cleaning, which means clients with complex or multi-faceted pest problems can work with a single, technically coherent team rather than coordinating multiple contractors.
The third is the scale of operational experience. With a fleet of sixteen vehicles, a Midlands team operating across the East and West Midlands and beyond, and a nationwide presence in fumigation consultancy, Dealey operates at a scale that allows it to serve clients across the UK while retaining the technical focus and bespoke approach of a specialist company.
To speak to one of the UK’s most experienced pest control and fumigation teams, contact Dealey Environmental for a site assessment or consultation, and find out what 70 years of specialist knowledge can do for your pest control challenge.
