The Power Centre

The ‘powerhouse’ of our innovation programme is The Power Centre.

Opened in 2017, this industry-leading facility is home to one of the largest collections of pest insects in Europe, including one of the biggest colonies of Pharaoh ants. More than 30 different species are maintained including Asian hissing cockroaches, German cockroaches, bed bugs, India Meal Moths, Australian Spider beetles, Mediterranean Flour Moths, Mealworm beetles, mosquitos and fruit flies. We are the only company in the UK certified to keep termites.

Examples of the Team in Action

Mosquito lab – a new lab to help us understand mosquitoes more extensively, establish control techniques and test new products.

Culture Room – over the last five years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of bed bug infestations across the globe. Whereas once it was rare to hear about an infestation, today our technicians across the world are working to control bed bug infestations on a daily basis. At The Power Centre, a culture room is available to build our understanding – this is a controlled environment where bed bugs and other blood feeding pests are able to develop and be analysed.

Fly room – small rooms where multiple flies can be released to test the efficiency of products such as our latest innovation, Lumnia, the world’s first commercial insect light trap to use LED lights, rather than traditional black-light fluorescent tubes. The team tests both Rentokil and competitor products to ensure that the claims we make are genuine and backed up by science.

Chemical Free solutions – development of a new entomopathagenic fungi uses fungal spores that attach to the external body surface of cockroaches and then germinate and bore through the outer shell to reach the body cavity, multiplying and eventually killing the insect. Unlike traditional chemicals, pests cannot develop resistance to spores. This means that we are able to get closer to solving a long-standing problem with insect pests learning to adapt to chemicals and pass on resistant genes. It’s a great example of how innovative, chemical-free solutions are being developed that combine higher levels of efficacy with reduced environmental impact.