Tom HallToilets are among the industry’s favourite topics, so we talked to some sector experts about what’s around the bend
Abi Philp, business development manager, Loos For Dos:
Change
As an industry there has been few drastic changes over the past year. We have found there to be a growing trend of the increased expectation of the consumer. People are generally more mindful of what they are spending their disposable income on, this in turn has raised the standards of what they expect. We as a company have to constantly ensure that we are not just meeting but bettering these expectations. As a rule the events we supply to simply want to ensure that they provide all consumers with a quality product at a competitive price. Everyone is rightly more conscious of their environmental impact and this will be a definite theme of change in 2019.
Organiser demands
We find that organisers simply are looking to ensure that they are getting the correct equipment, at the correct price at the right time. Over the past few seasons we have looked to ensure that we offer accurate deliver times to all customers. This is in conjunction with Big Change which we have been using as our logistics system for three years now. We are in the middle of a technological revolution and the demand to have information to finger tips is greater than ever. We have overcome this by offering live time tracking of drivers, on the day automated delivery texts to clients, the option to convert a quote to an order online and the pay now on contract facility. All of these ensure that we are offering all our clients the ability to order lovely loos and showers from their phone on the go.
Cost
For us we want offer our clients the most competitive cost that we are able to. For us we have a complex pricing structure taking into account both the location, event requirements and date of the event. This pricing model has allowed us to meet clients budgets as well as grow as a company year on year. We are not looking to be the biggest loo company, we want to be the best at what we do. In 2018 we were fortunate to work with a number of new clients, as well as the old faithful.
Brexit
As it stands we are unsure of the affect that Brexit will have on us. We have spoken to key suppliers to ensure that the cost of parts and supplies is not looking to drastically increase. However, as the outcome is very unknown it’s hard to forecast what the effect on the business will be. We are obviously hopeful that whatever the outcome there will be little change to the fantastic event scene that the UK has!
The future
The first hurdle will be to negotiate Brexit, from this we will then be able to see the effect that Brexit has on the events industry. The second hurdle that we all need to clear will be to have an open and honest conversation as an industry on our environmental impact. We need to consider the distances we drive, how we transport goods, the use of chemicals in loos, the disposal of waste and as an industry how we can innovate what we offer. There are a number of ideas on the market that need support from larger event suppliers. As a industry we have responsibilities to the environment and these are responsibilities that we should face up to, not just to overcome but also find solutions for.
On Site
Site Event exhibited at the London Olympia for the Event Production Show, showcasing its newest, most environmentally friendly product; 3 Bay Vacuum Toilet Pods.
The unit is marketed between a single plastic toilet and a luxury toilet trailer, the 3 bay vacuum toilet pods providing an efficient and effective toilet for the mass market.
Access caught up with Site Event director Amy Gilbert to talk innovation and staffing:
“The market is constantly innovating to meet demand of higher quality and more environmentally friendly products. We are pleased to say that Site Event are at the forefront, through developing our latest product the 6 and 3 bay vacuum pods, which are the most environmentally friendly toilet on the market, with a high end luxury feel for the mass market.
You may have seen in the Fyre Festival documentary that the organisers forgot about toilet hire until the last minute, do you think this has raised more awareness from organisers to get the fundamentals sorted before looking at the experience focused services?
Unfortunately Fyre Festival isn’t the only event to forget about ordering toilets, we often get a last minute phone call to say the organiser has forgotten about the toilets, however, we hope that the Fyre Festival documentary has raised awareness as to the disastrous consequences.
She added that the comapny are always on the lookout for new work and part of this is tendering for large contracts which has been key to winning our new business.
“More and more companies are using this method of procurement as they are looking for quality suppliers.”