If it’s December, it must be time for Britain’s Loo of the Year Award. And this year’s overall winner, in the 23rd year of the competition, is pub chain JD Wetherspoon.
The competition aims to find the charmingly-named “best away-from-home loos in the UK”. And its organisers, the British Toilet Association, say that entries continue at high levels despite the current straitened economic circumstances.
This year more than 1,400 entries were received, with the standards in entrants’ toilets also improving, as 72 per cent of the total entries achieved the top five-star grading – a significant rise on the 58 per cent who achieved the same feat in 2009.
We think that has to be good news for the British public – as levels of provision plummet, and it becomes harder and harder to ‘go on the go,’ at least those toilets left appear to be providing a decent level of service.
Mike Bone, awards managing director, said: “The UK’s hospitality sector is placing significantly increasing importance on provision of first class toilets that contain the facilities their customers need and expect when visiting their premises.
“Wetherspoon’s is continually raising the bar within this sector providing excellent and unique toilets in its pubs throughout the UK.”
Raising the bar! Geddit? (Wetherspoons being a pub chain and all… fair enough. We’ll get our coats.)
Other major UK trophy winners included supermarket chains ASDA and Tesco, Haven Holidays, Ceredigion County Council, Harrogate Borough Council, Staffordshire County Council and Highland Council.
Trophy winners in the associated Attendant of the Year Awards, for the very important people who put the sparkle and pride into the UK’s toilets, were Sandwich Town Council (individual attendant team), Larne Borough Council (in-house cleaning team) and Danfo UK (external contactor team).
The awards presentation was held on December 3 at the Chesford Grange Hotel in Kenilworth. Popular entertainer and TV show host Les Dennis provided the after-lunch entertainment with a special edition of a unique ‘Flushing Fortunes’ quiz show.
Full details of the 2010 Awards results are available at www.loo.co.uk – and you can get details of how to nominate your favourite public loo or most helpful attendant on that website. Go on – what are you waiting for?