Best of British toilets
December 1st 2007 With a record number of entries and attendees, the 2007 Loo of the Year Awards gave
recognition to the organisations and individuals working to improve UK toilets
The Trafford Shopping Centre,Manchester has won the much
coveted UK Winner's Trophy in the 20th Anniversary Loo of the
Year Awards competition to find the best 'away from home'
toilets in the UK.
"Shopping Centres are setting increasingly high standards of toilet
provision," according to awards director, Richard Chisnell. "The
Trafford Centre has been winning top grade Loo of the Year Awards
for many years and continues to improve facilities with dedicated
family friendly toilets and older child/adult changing for those with
special needs. Our 21st century society demands and expects a fully
inclusive toileting experience and The Trafford Centre is to be
congratulated for its forward thinking on this vitally important
service".
Nearly 1500 entries were received in the 2007 competition across
the 57 different entry categories with a total of 488 five star, 604 four
star and 264 three star grades awarded.
Other major UK Trophy Winners were: ASDA Stores for individual
category entries,West Wiltshire District Council for public toilet
entries,McDonald's Restaurants for Corporate provider entries, the
Windygoul Nursery,Tranent, East Lothian for Accessible facilities and
Welcome Break M62, Hartshead Moor West for babychange facilities.
Trophy winners in the associated Attendant of the Year Awards, for
the people who put the sparkle into the UK's toilets,were: Foundry
Lane, Chester-Le-Street (individual attendant team), Highland Council
(in-house cleaning team) and Wetton Cleaning Services (external
contractor team).
Representatives from the top twenty Local Authority public toilet
providers the Loo of the Year Awards 'Premier League',were
honoured at the Awards Presentation held on 5th December at The
National Motor Cycle Museum, near Birmingham, along with twenty
six members of the Awards 'Champion League', for participants
achieving five or more five star Award grades.
The 2007 Awards were run in association with Headline Sponsor
Dyson Airblade with additional sponsorship provided by Initial
Washroom Solutions,Armitage Shanks,The British Cleaning Council
and the four national tourism bodies Enjoy England,Visit Wales,Visit
Scotland and The Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
Loo of the Year 2008
After a record number of entrants and attendees, Richard Chisnell is
keen to build on this year's success. Following the 2007 event, another
train company is signed up for 2008 and a retail entrant is considering
entering all of its sites."It's multiplying exponentially a lot of people
use the awards to ensure they can go away and negotiate the budget
to get a better grade next year.And we aim to expand the awards to
match that demand, assuming we get enough support from the
industry." On that front, Chisnell urges sponsors to commit on a three
year basis to ensure structured progress and sustained results.
He now seeks more judges for next year's event:"Committed,
organised passionate people. Looking at grotty loos can be a soul
destroying job so we want people who can see beyond that and make
a difference. People who can see where effort is being applied and
where criticism is justified. If we all complained,we'd be in a much
better place.Constructive criticism is no bad thing."
For further information on this and
next year's event, see: www.loo.co.uk. More articles from Loo of the Year Awards: | 
