Hygiene is vital, washroom firms say
THERE are a lot of things that can put a customer off a venue, but few so certainly as poorly-maintained washrooms.
With this in mind, washroom equipment suppliers have offered their advice on how licensees can have a clean start to 2017.
Harry Millan of washroom equipment supplier Millan Services reckons licensees haven’t always paid their washrooms sufficient due care and attention, but this may be changing.
“Having supplied washroom equipment for more than 20 years I have always found it to be an area which publicans haven’t put a great deal of priority to,” said Millan.
“However, that has changed over the last few years. Since more and more premises are now serving food the washrooms are all of a sudden coming higher up on the list of priority areas.”
The changing nature of the Scottish on-trade has influenced how operators approach their washrooms, according to Millan, with sales of baby changing facilities and nappy bins on the rise.
And it’s not just changes in the trade that have driven innovation, with Millan pointing out that eco-friendly equipment has come on leaps and bounds.
“Equipment is so much better now and far more energy efficient with the introduction of high power, low consumption hand driers,” he said.
“Even the need for the old blue cubes in the troughs are gradually disappearing with the urinal sleeves (a device fitted to urinals to break down corrosive substances) taking over and saving the old problem of organic build up in the waste pipes.”
For operators looking to take advantage of these improvements in washroom tech, Millan suggested seeking out a supplier offering “proper advice”. “The cheapest is maybe not always the best overall and using smaller suppliers can give you a much better service,” he added.
The importance of good washroom hygiene was also highlighted by Heather Beattie, brand manager for the Jantex range of cleaning supplies for Nisbets.
Beattie said hygiene is “paramount in any commercial environment”, and operators should be aware that the cleaning products they use can have a “huge impact” on the levels of cleanliness that can be achieved.
The Jantex brand manager suggested licensees seek out quality, colour-coded products to ensure they get things right in the washroom.
“The very process of designating colours to cleaning equipment in certain areas of an establishment such as washrooms can significantly reduce the spread of bacteria and prevents cleaning products being mixed up,” she said.
