How waste and pest control firms sign new food businesses

Every new food business needs trade waste collection and pest control from its first day of trading, and most sign up in the weeks around opening. The law requires food businesses to have "adequate procedures to control pests", and to hand their waste only to a carrier authorised to take it. Council inspectors check pest control and waste storage at the first inspection. A new owner busy with a fit-out often hasn't thought about either until a few days before opening, which leaves the contract open for whoever turns up first.

When the decision gets made

Why every new venue is a lead now

• Trade waste. A business can't put its waste out with household bins. It must use a carrier on the public register of waste carriers, under the waste duty of care in England and Wales.
• Food waste is now separate in all three of Great Britain's nations.
  • England: under Simpler Recycling, businesses with 10 or more full-time-equivalent staff have had to separate food waste and dry recycling since 31 March 2025. Smaller businesses must do so by 31 March 2027.
  • Wales: workplace recycling rules have applied since 6 April 2024, with food waste separated where a premises produces more than 5 kg a week.
  • Scotland: food businesses producing more than 5 kg a week must present it separately, except in rural areas.
• Pest control. The regulation requires procedures, not a contract, but most food businesses meet it with a contractor's regular visits and the records an inspector can read.

A new restaurant therefore needs at least three waste streams and a pest control arrangement before it opens. Many owners don't know that until someone tells them.

Who you're talking to

• Owners of independents decide. Chains buy waste and pest control centrally through group contracts.
• They want it simple. One provider for general waste, recycling and food waste, collections that fit their opening hours, and paperwork that satisfies the inspector.
• Many are sole traders. That matters for how you contact them (see below), not for whether they need you.

Where new sites show up

• The council food register. Almost every new food business appears here at least 28 days before trading. It's the earliest and most complete record, but it isn't a list of what's new: it's split across more than 350 councils and mixes restaurants with childminders and care homes. Our guide on finding newly opened restaurants explains why it's hard to use directly.
• Your drivers and technicians. They see new shopfronts on their rounds, but only on their own routes.
• Referrals from inspectors and landlords. These are valuable, but you can't plan on them.

What OpenSoon gives you

OpenSoon checks every UK council register daily. Every Monday it sends the food businesses that registered, opened or closed that week. For waste and pest control firms, the useful fields are:

• Venues at registration, before the first inspection and usually before opening.
• The full address, so you can plan by postcode and route.
• Any other food business at the same address. A site that has held food businesses before may already have a bin store, and possibly a pest history.
• Venue type and cuisine, so you can estimate food waste volume.
• The company, where we can confidently match one.

Closures are in the same file, so you can also see which customers have left a site. See what the file contains for waste and hygiene firms.

How to approach a new venue

In person, on your route. A technician or driver who calls in during the fit-out, with a price and a bin plan, often wins on the spot.

By post, to the venue's address:

Congratulations on your new [restaurant or café] on [street]. Before you open you'll need a registered waste carrier and separate collections for food waste, recycling and general waste, and the council inspector will ask about your pest control. We can cover all of it in one visit: bins sized for your kitchen, collections around your hours, and the paperwork the inspector looks for. Call me on [number], or I'll call in during the week of [date].

By phone, once you have a number. Check it against both the TPS and the CTPS first.

By email, only to limited companies and LLPs, or to anyone who has given consent. That's the PECR rule for marketing emails.

Three mistakes

1. Waiting for the first inspection. By then the venue has been trading for weeks, and its bins are already being collected by someone.
2. Selling one service at a time. New owners want one call to sort waste, recycling and food waste, and they'd often like pest control too. Bundle them.
3. Treating every new registration the same. A takeaway, a café and a hotel produce very different volumes. Size the offer from the venue type before you call.

This guide summarises the rules for sales purposes and isn't legal advice. Check the linked guidance for the detail.