Raymond Martin inspects public toilets across the UK and prioritizes cleanliness while acknowledging tolerable imperfections in working facilities. He travels widely on toilet-inspection tours from the Lake District and Blackpool to Knutsford and Pembrokeshire. Martin leads the British Toilet Association (BTA) and seeks a successor who shares his passion for loos. The BTA operates as a members' association funded by companies that design and build public toilets, aligning commercial and public interests. Since 2000, estimates indicate a substantial decline in public toilets: Raymond cites about 50% lost, while researchers Jo-Anne Bichard and Gail Ramster estimate closer to 35%.
The first thing Raymond Martin looks for in a toilet, he says, is cleanliness. Does the tissue paper on the floor mean this public lavatory has failed his inspection? You have to understand that it's a working toilet, it's now mid-afternoon a few bits of tissue on the floor is neither here nor there, Martin says. If there were cigarette packets, bottles on the floor that I'd be worried about.
Martin loves the job it takes him all over the country. And he really, really loves loos. He turns 70 this year and has started thinking about who may run the BTA whenever he steps down. He is, he says, trying to find someone who has the passion for toilets. But before then, Martin is on what he calls his quest. God or whoever said, We need somebody to do this job.' And I went, All right, I'll give it a go.'
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