by Jbs121709 d3 — December 21, 2009—The 22nd annual “Loo of the Year” Awards were presented recently to honor the best “away from home” toilets in the United Kingdom, with McDonald’s taking home the Overall Winner’s Trophy.
Awards Managing Director Mike Bone commented, “The U.K.’s restaurant and hospitality sectors are placing significantly increasing importance on provision of first-class toilets that contain the facilities their customers need and expect when visiting their premises. McDonald’s has continued to improve the quality of their customer toilets since winning National Awards in previous years.”
Entries for the awards continue at high levels despite the economic situation, and over 1,500 entries were received, noted the organizers. Standards in award entrants’ toilets are apparently also improving—58 percent of the total entries achieved the top 5 Star grading (42 percent in 2008).
In addition to McDonald’s, the major 2009 winners were: TC Contractors for individual category entries; Brighton and Hove City Council for public toilet entries; JD Wetherspoon for corporate provider entries for the second year running; East Lothian Council for accessible facilities; South Lanarkshire Council for adult/child changing facilities; ASDA for baby changing facilities; and The Camping & Caravanning Club for family-friendly facilities.
Trophy winners in the associated Attendant of the Year Awards, for “the very important people who put the sparkle and pride into the U.K.’s toilets,” were: Brighton & Hove City Council (individual attendant team); Butlins (in-house cleaning team); and Healthmatic (external contactor team).
Representatives from the top 20 Local Authorities public toilet providers—the Loo of the Year Awards’ “Premier League”—were also honored at the awards presentation, along with 35 members of the Awards’ “Champions League,” the standards of excellence for participants achieving five or more five-star Award grades.
