The finalists of Pest Technician of the Year 2026 all demonstrated strong pest control knowledge, a customer-focused approach and excellent problem-solving abilities. But there can be only one winner…
Professional Pest Manager is pleased to announce that the 2026 winner of the Pest Technician of the Year award is Hernan Garcia-Prieto from Concept Termite & Pest Management, in Brisbane.
The two runner-ups, and highly commended, were Nick Muir from Pesties.au on the Gold Coast and Liam Basley from LB Pest Management, also in Brisbane.
The awards were presented at the Pestech Roadshows by Dr Phil Ridley and Jason Green, General Manager at Agserv.
Now in its fifth year, the award recognises the individuals who are actually providing the pest management services; those dealing with the pest problems on site and interacting with the customers (rather than a company award).
“The award has now developed a certain prestige and can be leveraged by the winner and the business they work for as a powerful marketing tool,” said Dr Ridley, Director of BD Publications, which runs Professional Pest Manager magazine.
“The competition this year had a record number of entrants, including some female entrants, which is a positive sign for the industry.
“Although all the winners were from Queensland this year, we had entrants from all over the country. That said, it would be good to see more entrants from Victoria, SA and WA.”
The competition involved the completion of a short but challenging online quiz that included pest identification and treatment questions, submission of customer reviews and a panel interview for the finalists.
“We continue to be impressed by the quality of all the finalists. They all show similar attributes, with problem-solving skills and a customer-focused approach being key to their success… essential given that we are a service industry,” commented Dr Ridley.
Professional Pest Manager would like to thank Agserv for its continued support in sponsoring the competition.
