There are many commercial premises where toilets are not a necessity, such as smaller shops that people will pop in and out of in a few minutes. But anywhere that people are likely to be for a lengthy period of time will need them, pubs being a prime example.
Imagine the horror, therefore, that could accompany the recent revelation in The Sun that there is a pub in London, a Wetherspoons no less, that has no toilets at all. Even by downmarket tabloid standards, this must be shocking news.
Some might jest that, as the average Wetherspoons has toilets on the second or third floor, the small size of the single-floor pub at London’s Cannon Street Station rules that out. However, as it is at a railway station, it may not matter so much, as the concourse facilities at Cannon Street do include toilets.
Why Pubs Should Make Washrooms A Priority
Nonetheless, there cannot be many pubs around Britain that don’t have toilets at all. These are an absolute necessity, not just because people will spend extended periods of time there, but also because the consumption of beverages on the premises will mean the need to use washroom facilities will be more frequent.
Needing toilets is one matter, but there is also the question of what washroom facilities are required. Part of that is about capacity; you don’t want huge queues when it is a busy Saturday night, or even at half-time when you are showing the football on TV.
This, however, is not your only consideration. You also need to consider the kind of clientele you have, as well as whether you are going to need more robust, even vandal-proof toilet cubicle doors. That doesn’t necessarily mean yours is a ‘rough’ pub, although in some areas, it is inevitable that there may be a few patrons who behave badly.
Demographics And Damage
Firstly, consider the demographics. A working men’s club, being a more male-dominated area, will need more facilities for men than for ladies. A pub aimed at a same-sex clientele may similarly need to be skewed, or else there may be unisex toilets. For most pubs, however, there needs to be a more even balance.
If you do have a pub where things can get a bit lively at times, vandal-proof items can be very useful indeed. A combination of angry people and alcohol can lead to many a problem in pubs and if individuals do not come to blows with each other, they may take it out on items of property.
Quite apart from this, there is also the low-level vandalism risk, such as from graffiti or general malevolence. Simply having items like toilet roll dispensers that cannot easily be damaged can be highly helpful in maintaining a good level of hygiene and a high standard of facilities.
This is highly important because, of course, while a minority might damage the facilities, most of your patrons will not be like that. They just want good, clean washrooms. Without this, they might be put off returning and you could lose regular customers to another pub.
Dealing with vandalism is not an unusual problem, of course, as it happens often with public toilets. But a council-owned park or town centre facility does not have to compete with someone else; nobody can opt out of council services or paying Council Tax because the toilets have not been kept well (the reckoning may come at local elections, of course).
For any pub, it matters to have better toilets than others, or at least as good, just as much as your other facilities and the quality of your food and drink offering are important.
Beware The Curse Of TripAdvisor
Word will certainly get around one way or another. Since Wetherspoons is so famous for its upstairs toilets, it may be no surprise that it was the subject of research by Croydex, which used TripAdvisor reviews to show which toilets were most highly rated and where the most complaints occurred.
At the top of the list for good toilets was the Brockley Barge in south London, which may come as a relief to those worried they might visit the capital and not find a Wetherspoons with toilets at all. The worst, attracting the highest number of complaints, was the Standing Order in Edinburgh.
Although bad smells seem to be the most common complaint, the fact that pub toilets do get reviews on sites like TripAdvisor is a good reason for you to invest in washroom equipment, from toilet seats to cubicle doors, that are robust and easy to keep clean.
That way, you won’t lose out to your neighbouring pubs or have to rely on there being adjacent railway station washrooms.
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