How businesses can increase sales as customers spend a penny

A scheme to encourage businesses to make their toilet facilities available to the general public in return for an annual fee might be a solution to the lack of public toilets.

The BBC news website reports that pubs and restaurants across the UK will be encouraged to open their toilets in exchange for as much as £600 a year.

The government is expected to urge local councils to adopt the scheme in order to address a national shortage.

But the British Toilet Association (yes - there really is a trade association for public loos) has responded that the idea is only part of the answer to a problem plaguing the nation.

Of course we’ve all been using the toilets in fastfood restaurants and pubs for years. I often pop into McDonalds to point percy at the porcelein - but rarely buy anything whilst I’m there.

Does the £600 annual income represent much of an incentive to service businesses? What would the extra operating costs of handing extra toilet use be? In other words, what is the bottom line and will this scheme turn out simply to be a flash in the pan?