Flushed With Success
We humans share five common activities every day: breathing, eating, drinking, sleeping and toileting. When you’re away from home, it’s often the latter which creates the biggest cause for concern. Despite this, washrooms are often overlooked, even in the hospitality and leisure sectors, where guests of all ages will need to make use your facilities. Whether you have a positive or negative experience as a customer, chances are you’ll share it with family, friends and colleagues, or even make a few negative comments on sites like Trip Advisor and Facebook.
HIGH STANDARDS
Maintaining high standards for your washroom provision can separate you from the competition in a crowded industry. Established in 1987, the Loo of the Year Awards provide a tried-and-tested, cost-effective, independent annual assessment of your operations. Entrants are recognised through an annual grading scheme – including a new grade (Diamond) in 2019. Participants in the event include the UK’s leading retail, hospitality, leisure and entertainment companies. And many holiday park owners already reap the benefits of taking part. In 2018, the national winners included Hillcroft Park (Penrith), Ord House (Berwick on Tweed) and Trotting Mare Caravan Park (Wrexham). All gained significant publicity – both nationally and locally – as a result.
STAR GRADES
Entries are awarded a star grading (Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond), following an unannounced visit by an authorised LOYA inspector. Every entry is assessed against more than 100 criteria which cover male and female facilities, as well as any baby changing or changing room facilities provided. LOYA criteria, where appropriate, is based on British Standards and the Equality Act, and includes hygiene equipment, cleanliness, fixtures and fittings, décor, maintenance and value-added extras. Providing good facilities for families with babies and young children is particularly important in holiday parks. Assessors will look closely at toilet accessibility and the condition and safety of changing units. Extras, such as baby baths and nappy dispensing facilities all add value: increasing the level of the Award achieved. LOYA organiser Mike Bone has some advice for anyone thinking about entering. He says: “An award-winning holiday ark entrant’s washroom has the ‘Wow’ factor as the provide attractive loos that make toilet use away from home a pleasure – not a concern. “Excellent ventilation, dry floors, constant availability of toilet tissue and hand soap and a safe hygienic environment are what separate winning loos from those which deter visitors from booking again. “ Winners of the Loo of the Year Awards 2019 will be recognised and celebrated in a prestigious daytime Awards Event in December. Whether your site has new or existing washroom facilities, there are several areas of insurance which apply, according to a Compass Insurance spokesperson. Your buildings and structures should be covered under your park’s commercial (business) policy and that should also offer Public Liability (PL) cover, which would be relevant toany washroom-related accident or incident that may lead to a claim by a me
mber of the public. “It is essential to ensure that your PL cover amounts are adequate for your individual business,” notes programme manager Richard Walker. “The standard level offered by your insurer may not be sufficient and an add-on amount may need to be purchased.” For smaller parks, a minimum of £5 million PL cover is suggested. On parks with larger footfall, a minimum of £10 million might be more realistic. For help on choosing adequate PL cover, park owners and managers should speak to their insurance account executive. Employers Liability (EL) insurance cover is readily available as a part of a park’s commercial cover, though on occasion it may need to be bought separately – your insurance account executive should be able to guide you on this. Again, park owners should check that their EL cover is adequate for the individuals they employ and the nature of work they carry out. EL is a legal requirement and the Compass scheme offers cover of up to £10 million. It is the employer’s (i.e. the park owner/manager’s) duty of care to ensure that the washroom facilities are a safe environment for people to work in. As with all buildings and structures on a holiday park, it is essential that your washrooms are adequately insured. In addition to structural and fixtures and fittings re-build costs, your Sums Insured amount may need to take into account the cost of replacing any systems that might also need to be replaced as a result of a total loss, such as water heating systems and drainage.
SAFETY NETS
The total loss of a washroom facility, especially on parks hat are touring/camping only, is the stuff of nightmares for park owners. Without washing and toileting facilities, a park can be left unable to operate. In this respect, the loss of washroom can mean a significant loss of income while the facility is repaired/ replaced. In this instance, an area of insurance called Business Interruption cover could pay dividends. When a business is ‘interrupted’ from normal trading following an insurable event, a Business Interruption (BI) policy can compensate for related financial losses. These might include lost bookings and the cost of refunding bookings that cannot be honoured as well as staff wages . It is important for park owners and managers to note that a condition of your park’s commercial insurance policy is likely to be that you must keep your buildings and facilities in a ‘good state of repair’. This means that if a claim is made and the loss adjuster believes your washroom facilities have not been maintained adequately, this may lead to non-payment. It could even lead to an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive.
SITTING TARGETS
Remember also that washroom facilities can create ideal opportunities to communicate with your customers. LED screens are now appearing in washrooms across the UK. While many units are stand-alone, some are integrated into washroom equipment specifically as an advertising medium. If you are working with a smaller budget, clip frames offer an affordable and effective alternative. These can be placed within the cubicles or by the sink and allow you to promote everything from entertainment and activities to special offers and deals.
ABOVE: Jane and Paul Lancaster splashed over £300,000 on the award-winning new washrooms
Spending Wise Park Pennies
When Paul Lancaster and his wife Jane opened Donkey Creek Farm Caravan Park on Lancashire’s Fylde coast, they understood the importance of offering great facilities. Donkey Creek was opened to cater for those seeking a high-quality location to pitch on the Fylde coast, which is close to the scenic countryside and its famous resorts. One of the first tasks was to build a state-of-the-art washroom facility for guests pitching up at the park with motorhomes, touring caravans and tents. Enabling them to spend a penny in five-star surroundings cost around £300,00 – and has helped Donkey Creek earn a raft of glowing reviews… and a top Platinum Award from LOYA just a year after opening. New facilities include large shower and drying areas, private family bathrooms, hairdryers, underfloor heating and full access for people with limited mobility. In addition to the Award, LOYA inspectors also gave the washroom cleaning team a special certificate for the outstandingly high standards of cleanliness maintained. For Paul, the washroom building reflects the park’s aspirations. He explains: “Donkey Creek has a very special appeal to people who enjoy away-from-it-all holidays in gorgeous surroundings, and we've tried to provide the perfect backdrop for that.”
Maximum Privacy
Pinewood Holiday Park is at the heart of the North Norfolk coast in Wells-next-the-Sea. They offer modern and luxury holiday accommodation and wanted their two new washroom blocks to reflect the high standards that Pinewood strives for across all areas of the park. Having worked with caravan and camping sites for many years, Dunhams Washroom Systems had no hesitation in recommending its Challenger system. Challenger WC, shower and changing cubicles are a long-lasting and versatile cubicle systems designed for high traffic and wet area use. Along with this, Dunham Washroom System vanities, seating, shower rail systems and accessories completed the package.
The marmite of the holiday industry, holiday letters either love hot tubs or they loathe them. A necessary evil, the plus side of hot tubs is that they will increase ‘letability’ offering the opportunity to put premium prices on accommodation offered with a spa. In fact, seven out of ten bookers are looking for a hot tub with their holiday let, while accommodation promoted as being supplied with a hot tub ,will generally sustain increased rates of around 25% -30%. On the down side, hot tubs are high maintenance on changeover days; a pain to heat up, with inevitable customer complaints. The in-coming visitors are chomping at the bit to take the plunge and social media the ‘in the tub’ photographs to show all their friends how they are living the dream. As hard as you try, damage and tampering by clients, especially on covers and controls, however well meaning, can be costly in terms of ongoing maintenance. There are also huge health and safety responsibilities on regular water changes, safe water balance and generally demonstrating your duty of care. A relatively new set of guidance, namely HSG282, has split opinion with many specialist suppliers hot-footing it to play the compliance card. “It is recognised that hot tubs and spa pools can be a source of diseases caused by infectious agents including the organism that causes Legionnaires’ disease, primarily Legionella pneumpohila,” advises industry expert and PPG national sales manager, Jimmy Lamb. “There have been a number of outbreaks linked to hot tubs and spa pools in leisure centres, hotels, holiday homes, on cruise ships and on display,” he warns. There was limited information applicable to hot tubs/spas located in holiday lets before the HSG282 was produced. HSG stands for Health and Safety Guidance. One of the opening paragraphs in HSG282 reads: This guidance is issued by the Health and Safety Executive. Following the guidance is not compulsory, unless specifically stated, and you are free to take other action. But, if you do follow the guidance you will normally be doing enough to comply with the law. In the event of an incident, Health and Safety inspectors seek to secure compliance with the law and may refer to this guidance. Jimmy again: “I have noticed a number of hot tub supplier and manufacturers marketing their hot tubs to the holiday park/let market as ‘HSG282 Compliant’. “The use of the word compliant in my opinion could suggest that HSG282 is law but it is not legislation – it is guidance.” Suppliers, like Darlly Europe, the inventors of the Slipstream in-linefiltration system, believe the guidance is helpful to the holiday let sector. “Though we can understand why some owners and operators would view it as being a sales tool, given that, before its introduction, there was no specific regulatory framework covering the use of domestic type hot tubs in holiday let environments,” says Darlly 's Gil Gingell. “So, to 
go from a situation where there was perceived to be no restrictions to where there has to be a level of compliance will be seen by some to be bureaucratic and imposing unnecessary costs by those of that mind-set. “In the absence of any specific guidance, it was only a matter of time before a serious public health incident occurred which could have potentially devastating repercussions on the industry and public perception of it, as well as, of course, the unfortunate people affected, Gil Gingell." “It therefore benefits owners and operators, who will have the peace of mind, that if they follow the guidance - and are seen to be following it - they won't have any issues which could potentially harm their customers. Leading hot tub supplier Rotospa agrees: “The new guidance allows holiday parks to make an informed decision when choosing the right spa for their park, in order to ensure the product is compliant and fi t for purpose, whilst also meeting their own needs,” says Rotospa’s Charlotte Hotchin. “The document also puts emphasis on the supplier of the product to ensure a compliant and fi t for purpose product is supplied, to ultimately ensure the safety of its users. “When the spas are in this particular context, there is also an obligation for the supplier of the spas to provide training and instructions to its customers to ensure the customer is knowledgeable on the correct use of spas,” says Charlotte who adds: “Both of our holiday park specific spas are fi t for purpose and fully HSG282 compliant.” One of the country’s leading hot tub retailers, Gareth Jones of UK Leisure Living believes HSG282 is a positive move. “It is good we have some standards to work to and something to ensure a reasonable quality tub with a reasonable spec is being fitted in the holiday sector,” says Gareth.
and again provides confusion for owners.” Gareth says he and his UK Leisure Living team try to help their holiday let clients navigate through the maze of options and ensure, as much as reasonable practicable, safe hot tub ownership. “We have a variety of spas that we sell into the holiday market. All spas will come with an ozone, inline chemical feeder as well as some form of way of locking the control panel off. “We tick as many as we can, some clients want more depending on their site regulations. We fully communicate with the client the specifi cation and ensure they are compliant in spec and in running the spa afterwards.”Gareth warns: “Extra bookings don’t always equal extra profi t, as the operator needs to consider the management of the tub and factor this into the pay back. “However we feel a £5-6k hot tub, should pay for its self within one to three years with a good quality booking agent. “Some people charge an extra £50-£100 a booking for having the hot tub and then factor in a 25% up lift in bookings, and that gives you a great payback,” he estimates. If you speak to any online booking agent they will usually place a hot-tub in the top three options search or ticked. But rushing into a purchase, to tick the hot tub box, could be a mistake if operators do not follow the latest advice. Dan Johnson of the American brand, Marquis Spas, markets a fully compliant range of hot tubs for the holiday let market. Dan reveals: “Many of the smaller holiday park operators, I have spoken to, left me feeling they had no idea of the HSG282 guidance but felt that filling out a risk assessment exempted them somehow? “I think the big operators are paying attention, as they understand the power of the HSE and thus the importance of following guidelines – it is built into their management infrastructure,” Dan continues. “While some dealers have been specifying or retro-fi tting continuous feeders to outdated models, the bather capacity and water turn-over rates, will still make many hot tubs fall foul of HSG282,” explains Dan who calls on personal experiences. “I recently booked an October break for my family online. I was offered an inflatable hot tub more than once – how does that get anywhere near being compliant – the operator didn’t know, nor care.”
As an industry standard, using conventional methods, a holiday hot tub, with a normal 3kw heater, will heat water on changeover at one degree an hour, that is up to 24 hours to get up to optimum temperatures. So take note of a ground-breaking new state-of-the-art product, called the Climacube that will heat a hot tub at seven to eight degrees per hour. The Climacube will heat hot tubs in around 4-5 hours from cold with a consumption of only 1KW per/hour with a COP of over 3.5 in minus temperatures. If I then told you the Climacube guarantees to cut energy costs by 70 to 80 percent and can be used to provide hot water and power to your holiday lodges themselves….yes, keep calm and form an orderly queue. RETRO-FITS Available as a stand-alone unit, the ClimaCube can be retro-fitted to all makes of hot tubs. It is also available as a pre-installed feature in a bespoke range of hot tubs by ClimaCube’s creator, Park Leisure Solutions. Launched at the start of the 2018 season; good news travels fast. Big names like Parkdean, Shorefield and Hoburne Holidays have been the first to snap up the new technology that already features on over 70 hot tubs at holiday parks in Poole, Norwich and Skegness.
The spa cover you have always wanted and the last you will ever need, the Smartop, by Leisure Concepts, combines strength and good looks as the first choice for the holiday let sector. An array of colours and finishes to choose from, the Smartop will not develop mildew, mould or odour over time. Its durable and rugged materials handle outdoor elements with ease yet is feather-light to manoeuvre. Custom-designs are available on large orders – so you can have your hot tub cover, company
not only has great accommodation and a wonderful location, one of the things that keeps guests coming back are the facilities. The Oasis Fun Pools are one of the main attractions of staying on the park. The indoor pool has a river rapid ride to take your breath away, water cannon and geyser for a real soaking, then get drenched under the giant tap, fountains and waterfalls too.
Hendra chooses a charity each year to raise money for, and guests kindly donating an optional 50p on each booking. This is small change but makes such huge difference and last year, together with collecting tine on the park, raffles and other fund raising events Hendra raised a record-breaking £13,398 for Macmillan Cancer Support. This year the chosen charity is the Alzheimer’s society, which is the UK's leading dementia support and research charity. Another way Hendra’s guests help to make their stay green and sustainable is by ‘freecycling’ a facility provided on the park so they can leave behind unwanted holiday items like beach toys, windbreaks and BBQs at the end of their break for other guests to enjoy. The park actively encourages guest feedback, via surveys, reviews and social media, which is always valued and responded to. It’s vital to continue to make Hendra the holiday destination for future generations too, so it’s important to keep improving, developing and maintaining the Park, whilst being sustainable. It is a challenge, but one that’s relished by owners and staff.
Caravan, lodge and park owners continue to go paperless – helping their insurance provider, Leisuredays, to raise more and more money for national charity, Heart Research UK. As part of Leisuredays’ commitment to helping hearts, the company donates £1 to Heart Research UK every time a customer opts for an emailed policy rather than receiving their documents through the post. Throughout 2018, Leisuredays’ Paperless Policies campaign raised a hearty £14,292. Leisuredays’ Paperless Policies initiative has raised a massive £91,970 in the last nine years. Associate Director Laura Wilby presented Heart Research UK with a cheque during the Halifax-based company’s Healthy Heart day. As a big thank you, the charity delivered heart and cholesterol checks, plus lifestyle advice to staff, who celebrated with a health fair, eating healthy snacks and sharing recipes and exercise ideas.
If you are searching for the latest design ideas as part of your continuous accommodation upgrades, or a choice of holiday park services, the World of Park and Leisure Homes has a solution for you. The show plays host to multiple park home providers, aiming to give owners and operators a unique opportunity to spend quality time with the manufacturers, viewing new models and other homes on display and considering new concepts and designs. But accommodation is only part of the event appeal. There are a plethora of suppliers of services and products from finance and security to insurance and electrics, all keen to meet with existing and potential new customers. Cutting out the travel for many south of England operators, the South of England Showground, at Ardingley, was the location for the April event; the first of two shows. Highlights included a floating mobile home by The Floating Lodges Company and a Gypsy Caravan by Erpingham Lodges. With free parking and entry to the event, the next World of Park and Leisure Homes Show will take place next month at the Stoneleigh showground. The trade-only day is Thursday June 6th while the public will also have access from June 7th to 9th.
