Urban wildlife is closer to your business than you think
Foxes patrol the bin store at 3am. Grey squirrels nest in the loft void above your boardroom. Moles turn a sports field into a slip-trip-fall claim. Urban and commercial wildlife is the category most businesses don’t plan for — until they’re paying for the cabling, the disinfection, the closed yard, or the press call.
IPS delivers integrated wildlife-management programmes matched to the species, the site and the regulator — from a single mole-trapping visit on a North West sports ground to a full multi-site fox-deterrent and squirrel-exclusion contract for an FM partner. Every protocol is humane, fully compliant with the Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 1981 and the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, and backed by audit-ready documentation.
Whether you’re protecting a food-processing site, an industrial yard, a social-housing scheme or a sports ground, our team mobilises fast, documents every visit, and stays with you long after the trap is set.
Discover more about our wildlife-management services
Fox Control & Deterrent →
Grey Squirrel Control →
Loft & Roof Wildlife Exclusion →
Mole Control & Lawn Restoration →
Estate & Sports-Ground Mole Trapping →
Multi-Site & FM Wildlife Programmes →
Fox Control & Deterrent
Urban red foxes have learned that commercial bin stores, restaurant yards and food-processing perimeters are reliable food sources. They tear bin bags, scatter food waste, dig under fences, and lose any natural fear of people — particularly during the April–May cub-rearing season when adult foxes get bolder and more territorial.
IPS uses a layered, humane fox-management approach — bin store proofing, deterrent installation, scent and audio repellents, perimeter improvements and (only as a final resort, under DEFRA guidance) targeted humane removal. Foxes are not protected as a species in England, but the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996 still governs how any control is carried out.
5–9kg
Adult red fox weight
Apr–May
Cub-rearing peak season
365
Days they stay on patrol
Grey Squirrel Control
Grey squirrels are an invasive non-native species in the UK and one of the worst commercial wildlife problems we encounter — their constant gnawing damages cabling, fascia boards and roof timbers, and they cost the UK economy an estimated £37 million a year. Under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019, releasing a captured grey squirrel back into the wild is illegal.
IPS uses spring-trap protocols approved under the Spring Traps Approval (England) Order for grey squirrels, alongside structural exclusion to stop the next intake. Every trap is checked daily, sited responsibly, and dispatched humanely under the law — we never leave a trap unattended.
£37m
UK economic damage / year
Daily
Trap-check protocol
2019
Invasive Species Order
The annual mole-trapping programme
Run for sports grounds, golf courses, school playing fields and amenity estates — a structured spring and autumn trapping rotation that cuts mole-hill incidence by 80% and keeps the surface playable. Documented, monitored, repeatable.
Loft & Roof Wildlife Exclusion
Squirrels need only a 50mm gap to enter a roof void. Once they’re in, they shred insulation, gnaw cabling (a real fire risk), and a single breeding pair can produce two litters a year. The exclusion job after removal is just as important as the trapping itself.
IPS conducts full structural exclusion surveys: every soffit, fascia, eave, ventilation grille, gable-end cavity, weep hole and roof-tile gap mapped, photographed and proofed with marine-grade stainless mesh and exclusion brushes. We do the trapping AND the proofing — never one without the other.
50mm
Min squirrel entry gap
2 litters
Per breeding pair, per year
Mapped
Structural exclusion plan
Mole Control & Lawn Restoration
A mature European mole tunnels up to 20 metres a day and pushes mole hills the size of buckets onto the surface. On amenity grass, school playing fields and corporate lawns, that turns a maintained surface into a tripping hazard, a trip-claim risk and an aesthetic disaster overnight.
IPS uses approved Duffus and scissor mole traps placed in active runs identified on a site survey — never poison, which is no longer legal in the UK for moles. Trap-check rota is daily; the lawn is restored in a single visit; the trapping continues until clear, then we hand the surface back.
Estate & Sports-Ground Mole Trapping
For amenity-grade sites — cricket grounds, golf courses, school playing fields, corporate amenity lawns and country estates — mole damage is a contracted KPI failure and a real safety concern. We run scheduled rotations rather than reactive call-outs, and we deliver the results in writing.
Spring and autumn trap rotations, mole-hill counts at every visit, monthly KPI reporting against contracted targets, and a named single technician handling your site for continuity. Sports-turf surveyors and ground keepers tell us the difference is night and day.
Multi-Site & FM Wildlife Programmes
Wildlife issues are the ones FM partners least want to manage themselves — the species are seasonal, the legislation is specialist, and the call-outs are reputational. IPS runs nationwide multi-site wildlife programmes through FM partners with consistent reporting, single-point escalation, and direct technician contact.
Every site gets a unified survey, monthly KPI report, escalation tracking and a named contact at IPS. From a 5-site retail estate with seasonal fox issues to a 100-site portfolio with squirrel and mole touchpoints across England, Scotland and Wales — the documentation, response times and audit performance stay flat.
Wildlife Act & Wild Mammals Act compliance — built into every job
UK wildlife is governed by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, the Wild Mammals (Protection) Act 1996, the Spring Traps Approval (England) Order, and the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. Our team is trained, audited and externally accredited so every visit is delivered to the letter of all four — on the right side of every regulator.
Trusted across every commercial sector
Food & Drink
Manufacturing & Logistics
Retail & Offices
Social Housing
Humane wildlife management — always
Inspection & species ID
Different species need different responses, and the law differs between them too. Every visit starts with a structured inspection — species ID, source, harbourage, conducive conditions — before any control work begins.
Deterrent & exclusion first
Wherever it’s possible, we deter and exclude before we trap. Bin-store hardening for foxes, structural exclusion for squirrels, perimeter improvements for badgers, scent and audio deterrents on amenity sites — all before a single trap is considered.
Lawful, audited control
When trapping or removal is genuinely the right answer, we use only Spring-Traps-Approval-Order-listed devices, daily check rotations, and the species-specific protocols mandated by law. Every action is logged for the auditor.
Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996
1981
Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996
Of operations use
100%
Approved-trap protocols only
Developing the future of wildlife management
From IoT-connected mole-trap sensors that flag a strike in real time to AI-camera fox identification on bin stores and contraceptive bait research for grey squirrels, IPS field-tests new wildlife-management technology with R&D partners across the UK — so what we deploy today stays effective tomorrow.
Audit-ready documentation at every site
When the auditor walks into your building — BRC, AIB, EHO, M&S, Tesco, your insurer, your end-client’s end-client — they want to see a system, not a story. Every IPS site has live site plans, trap-location maps, daily check logs, species records, exclusion-work documentation, photographic evidence and a full escalation history the auditor can pull up and tick off without a single phone call.
We back it up with seven independent accreditations — BPCA, Safe Contractor, Construction Line, CHAS, IPAF, CSCS and Prompt Basis Register — and an unbroken delivery history on multi-site contracts under all the major retailer specifications.
Ready to act?
Book a free wildlife-management survey
A site walk-around with one of our wildlife specialists, a written species-specific risk report with photographs, and a costed proposal for any management work. No obligation.
About Wildlife Control
Frequently asked questions
Are foxes a protected species in the UK?
Yes. Humane deterrents — spikes, netting, post & wire, sonic and visual scarers — are entirely legal. What’s illegal is killing, injuring or interfering with nesting wild birds without the right licence in place. We do all our work to the letter of the Wild Mammals Protection Act 1996 1981.
Why is mole control so seasonal?
Moles are most active in spring (February–April) and autumn (September–November) when soil conditions and worm activity drive their tunnelling. That’s when you see the most surface damage, and that’s when our trapping rotations are most effective.
Can I just keep releasing the squirrels I catch?
No — releasing a captured grey squirrel back into the wild is illegal under the Invasive Alien Species (Enforcement and Permitting) Order 2019. Greys are an invasive non-native species, and once captured they must be humanely dispatched in line with the law. We handle the entire process correctly so you never have to.
Do you only use traps, or are deterrents available?
Deterrents and exclusion are always our first option — structural proofing for squirrels, bin-store hardening for foxes, scent and audio deterrents for amenity sites. We use approved traps only when deterrents and exclusion alone won’t resolve the problem.
Do you cover the whole of the UK?
Direct field service is North-West focused (Liverpool, Manchester, Cheshire, Merseyside, Lancashire, Yorkshire). Multi-site wildlife programmes are delivered nationally through our FM partner network with consistent reporting standards on every site.
Can you work with our existing FM provider?
We do it all the time. We act as a preferred specialist supplier to a number of national FM providers, with the documentation, accreditations and vetted-contractor status they require. Talk to us about how we can slot into your existing supply chain.
How quickly can you respond to a wildlife emergency?
Same-day or next-day for active commercial wildlife incidents in the North West (fox in a bin store, squirrel in a roof, mole on a sports surface ahead of a fixture). Multi-site FM clients have contracted SLAs we hit consistently. National coverage is via our FM partner network.
What documentation do we get with a wildlife-management contract?
Site plans, trap-location maps, daily check logs, species records, RAMS, COSHH where relevant, exclusion-work documentation, action close-out, escalation trail, photographic evidence, BPCA-compliant reports. Every line an auditor asks for — and several they haven’t thought to ask for yet.