Changing of the Guard at Universal Pest & Termite

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - George Pilkington, longtime owner of Universal Pest & Termite of Virginia Beach, Va., announced he is stepping down and handing over the company to his daughter, Brittany Baine, and her husband, Tanner Baine.

After 24 years of running the business, Pilkington said that instead of selling, he wanted Universal to stay within the family as a legacy company. Brittany started working at Universal as a student while she was attending George Mason University. Immediately after college, she started working at her father’s company full-time.

“I grew up only knowing the bug world. Dad would come home green like a Smurf some days from applying a borate product under homes with a green dye. That scared me a little,” she said. “While in college, I always knew I would be involved in the family business, but didn’t think that one day I may own and run the company.”

There is a succession plan in place for the Baines to fully take over the company in 2025. Currently, both Brittany and Tanner are in the process of working in each department to better understand the business. Right now, Tanner is handling the field employees while Brittany is handling internal employees and issues.

“Because of their education and age, they have brought an advanced way of thinking with regards to social media marketing and technology with regards to software, equipment and materials,” Pilkington said.

Pilkington got involved in the pest control industry when he was 19 years old, working at Orkin as an inspector. He worked at Orkin’s Virginia Beach location for more than seven years. After that, he worked at Terminix for about six years until he started his own company, Universal Pest & Termite, alongside his brother, Shawn.

“Walking in and seeing Shawn in one office and my daughter, who was attending George Mason University and on the tennis team, making phone calls in the other office,” Pilkington said, “Best day ever.”

Brittany said observing how her father runs the business has given her the experience needed to take over as owner.

“Dad always preached to be fair to the employees and appreciate what personal issues people deal with. Without the evening chats after work, I don’t think I would have the understanding needed,” she said.

Pest control isn’t the only thing Brittany got involved in post-college. She accepted a tennis head coaching job at Norfolk State University, making her the first female in Virginia to coach a male D1 tennis program. Having this experience helped her develop skills that she thinks will help with running Universal.

“Playing and coaching D1 tennis helped with teamwork and the importance of the differences of each person and how you can’t always treat everyone the same,” she said.

Universal specializes in pest control for termites, ants, cockroaches, mosquitoes, spiders, bed bugs and rodents. They also provide other services, such as moisture control, home structural repairs, insulation services and air duct cleaning.

“We have always tried to zig when they zag. I believe we were the first in the region to offer combined termite/pest control programs (Uni-Guard) and possibly currently the only company offering duct cleaning services,” Pilkington said.