The Bog Cast
A podcast led by Becky Wall BEM who is the co-owner of the Loo Of The Year Awards. The Awards have a history going back almost 40 years and it involves nominees being assessed via an independent inspection of their site. The Awards cover any premises offering out-of-home washrooms across the UK, Northern Ireland and Ireland. The podcast will share the stories of those who work within the facilities management sector and those who value being able to use excellent toilet facilities.
The Bog Cast
“Where Hygiene Meets Innovation: Transforming the Modern Washroom to incorporate inclusive hygiene for all ” with Stuart Hands Commercial Development Manager for Tork/Essity
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In this episode, Becky is joined by Stuart Hands, Commercial Development Manager at Essity, the global business behind the well-known professional washroom brand Tork.
With over 25 years of experience across the washroom and hygiene sector, Stuart brings a wealth of insight into the evolving world of facilities management, hygiene standards, and the growing role of data and smart technology in modern cleaning.
At the heart of the conversation is how facilities management companies are using innovation and data-led cleaning to raise hygiene standards in washrooms, ensuring spaces are not only clean, but safe, efficient, and responsive to user needs.
From public washrooms to home essentials
Stuart shares the story behind the Tork professional range, the dispensers and systems we see in public and commercial washrooms, as well as the household brands many of us recognise on supermarket shelves. Together, they form part of Essity’s global mission to improve hygiene and health for all.
A global business with shared values
As Headline Sponsor of the Loo of the Year Awards, Essity recognised a natural alignment in values. Stuart explains how they were looking for a platform to celebrate best practice, raise standards, and support education and awareness across the industry, not just for those already excelling, but for those striving to improve.
Collaboration across the industry
This episode highlights the importance of recognising the collective effort behind great washrooms, from small businesses to multinational organisations and the essential role played by cleaners and operatives in maintaining hygiene and dignity for all users.
Washrooms as part of brand identity
Stuart explores how washrooms are far more than a functional space, they are central to a business’s reputation and customer experience. Behind every well-maintained facility is careful planning, logistics, and a deep understanding of user needs.
Inclusive hygiene for everyone
A key theme throughout the conversation is inclusivity, understanding the barriers people face in washrooms and how thoughtful product design and innovation can create spaces that work for everyone.
Sustainability
As a Swedish-founded company, sustainability is deeply embedded in Essity’s DNA. Stuart discusses initiatives such as hand towel recycling and the importance of reducing waste, ensuring that hygiene solutions are not only effective but environmentally responsible.
Driving standards through recognition
The conversation also introduces an exciting new award category supported by Tork within the Loo of the Year Awards, designed to raise profiles, celebrate success, and continue driving education and awareness across the sector.
A two-way conversation
From exhibitions to industry collaboration, Stuart reflects on the importance of listening and understanding what customers and end users truly need, and developing solutions that meet those challenges.
This is a fascinating episode that offers a fresh perspective on the vital role of hygiene, innovation, and collaboration in shaping the future of washrooms and why getting it right matters more than ever.
🎧 Tune in now to hear the full conversation!
For more information :- wwwTorkglobal.com
:- Stuart Hands MBA | LinkedIn
or for Loo of The Year Awards :- www.loo.co.uk
Hello and welcome to Lue of the Year Awards podcast. I hope that you enjoyed our last episode and I welcome you here again today. Today, our speaker and visitor is Stuart, who is representing our headline sponsor for Lou of the Year Awards this year, and I will pass over for him to lift the lid on what he does and what his company does. Stuart.
SPEAKER_02Hi Becky. So you want to know what I do?
SPEAKER_00I'd like to know what your title is.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so uh Stuart Hans. I am the commercial development manager for SETI in our top brand in the professional hygiene division. Um what I'm there to do is is basically work with facility management companies and work with them to place our hygiene products in washrooms, but also look at how we can help facility management cleaners clean more efficient and effectively, and that's through the use of modern technology. So everything to do with data, and we call that data-driven cleaning. So, in essence, basically, I'm there to help people select the right toilet paper, the right hand towels, and raise the hygiene within their washrooms.
SPEAKER_00So, are you able to give us a little bit more information about talk and city and some of the brands maybe that our listeners would also see? Because I expect they'll see the talk name on a dispenser, but there might be other brands that they don't realize that you are part of as well.
SPEAKER_02Yes, I guess talk is mainly focused at the professional side of the business. But if you were to put your uh personal hat on, you might recognise Cashell plenty. They're a couple of our brands, but they're our consumer brands. The talk brand is synonymous with the away from home market, but ST is a multi-global um business in relation to everything relating to hygiene, and another brand you might recognise is Tenner. But I work for Talk and it's all talk that's uh focused in washrooms.
SPEAKER_00So, what made Talk then want to join Louis the Year Awards as headline sponsor?
SPEAKER_02Well, you made us I didn't hold your arm behind your back, Stuart.
SPEAKER_00Honestly.
SPEAKER_02At the end of the day, what talk is about is raising the profile of the cleaning industry, but also raising the profile about hygiene within washroom facilities. And I think it goes hand in glove in terms of the work that the Lou of the Year is about, which is trying to recognize the hard work that from small companies to large multinational companies do in relation to their washroom hygiene. That fits hand in glove with us because what our role is to do is to raise the levels of hygiene within washrooms. So we were pleased to get on board, and I think started off with a what was interesting that I guess it was a a shout out for help, really, in the end of the day when we first made contact. Um we had attended Lou of the Year awards in the past prior to yourself taking them on Becca. Um so we were looking for a vehicle to work with as well. So just felt in the right time at the right place.
SPEAKER_00So you'd say that some of our goals and values are in line?
SPEAKER_02I think they definitely are in relation to how do we raise the profile. You know, it's recognising that there's more to washrooms and the general public see than just oh, it's clean or not. The hard work that goes behind getting washrooms prepared, the planning that it takes to make sure you've got the right um support mechanism place, like the facility service companies, that it's loaded with product. Um, and it's about also understanding how a washroom is the centre of business that can attract more clients. You know, how many times you look at social media say, Oh, don't visit X because the washrooms aren't very good. You know, for us, it's also recognising that the more we can educate our customers about washrooms plays a big part in their brand awareness. That we all talk about the quality of a toilet, don't we?
SPEAKER_00We do, we do. And so before you were involved with talk, did you look at toilets in the way you do now? Or have you become like the rest of us where we are our own inspectors everywhere we go? Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, I I've been in this side of the industry, if you will, for like 25 years. Oh, you don't look old enough to no, I know, don't, you know. I started off working for a company called Johnson Wax. People know them as Diverse through the various different times, and that's the first time I started looking at toilets because then it was all about toilet cleaner, right? And through various iterations, I then worked for a company called ISS, which is a major facility services company, and then it was also looking at toilet cleaning, and now I guess I've got the full set because now I look at toilets in relation to toilet paper. So for 26 years I've been doing nothing but look at toilets, so I've seen quite a few um, let's put it this way, shoddy toilets through to some excellent toilets, but also seen over the years how people have evolved to really sort of make it more focused about how ultimately cleaners can have a big impact on the washrooms, and I think COVID sort of really drove that in relation to visibility of people cleaning, whereas in the past it was always do it at night, do it out of the way. We don't want to see cleaners in that sense. So, um, yeah, 26 years almost of looking at toilets.
SPEAKER_00So we've been very lucky to have you as headline sponsors now for two years, and in that time, we've also been involved in some of the things that talk are doing, like the European round table.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And there we talked about barriers. I'd like you to perhaps talk to me about some of the barriers you feel that um people experience in washrooms and how talk as a brand are trying to overcome that because you're quite leaders in that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, uh one of the things that we want to be is the leader in terms of thought, thinking about what's next. And I guess one of the great things at the moment is about inclusive hygiene for all, and that's about recognising that not everyone has the same experience when they go into washrooms. You can have neurodivergent people that the noise of a hair dryer can put them off, and you can also have simple things like, well, if you've got arthritis, how does it make it easy for you to get toilet paper? Things that I probably a lot of people don't realise and take for granted. And so one of the campaigns that we are currently working on now is that hygiene for all, because everyone deserves the right level of hygiene, irrespective of how you use that washroom. Um, and I think over the years, I think there's been a lot more focus, certainly this last couple of years since COVID, about recognising that hygiene is a key importance to everyone's life.
SPEAKER_00So at the awards in January, yeah, we launched a new award, which will be to do with the inclusive hygiene for talk. How excited are you and the company about that and driving it forward with us as your partners?
SPEAKER_02It's evolved now to say that it's becoming more of a global message. One of the things that we're really keen on, and what's exciting about that is now we've got a platform to recognize what people do on their day-to-day life, and maybe have never put a badge on it and never labelled it as such. But now there's a recognition that those that think differently, that those that want to have that inclusive hygiene for all, has got a vehicle to say, well done. Um, you know, we're very much about raising the profile of the industry, and I think with what you do as the Lou of the Year rewards as well, is we're raising that profile, and ultimately it means raising the hygiene standards, and that's hygiene, is what we all aspire to at the end of the day. So it's great that we're gonna have a facility to work on that together, to be fair, Becca.
SPEAKER_00So let's look back at the Lou of the Year awards. Um, what are your reflections on it? What do you feel we do well? What do you feel we can do better? Is there any further awareness that you think we should be doing?
SPEAKER_02Um I think what you do well is recognize multifaceted different facilities and different levels of businesses. I've been to many awards when it's always focused on the large FM companies, and I've been to many awards when it's a given or they'll win because they sponsor. What I like about the Louis Awards is that it could be Mrs. Miggins' tea shop, and then the next award is your large FM. So it is that, I suppose, diversity of and breadth of reach that you're you know you're reaching to because ultimately everyone has a washroom that needs hygiene products, so that's where we step in because it's hygiene products for all, you know, it's part of what we uh we focus on. And I think this is the first time that we've launched this award with yourselves. So it'd be interesting to see how it's recognised by what people are doing now. And by that I mean okay, is that you go and assess and you uh you know you see are you wanting to apply for this award and what people are doing now without realizing they are in this hygiene uh market, and it is how they'd make it accessible for all, you know. So it'd be interesting to see what comes back from the awards, if I'm totally honest.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think you're right. I think a lot of awards where they're like this with all uh you know, either an audit or credibility judging or things like that actually does make the person that's entering think about what they're doing, and then maybe reach out to people like yourselves for help and advice. And I think I'm not sure what your thoughts are, but the exhibition side of the Louis of the Year awards, you are present um as in a company with a stand where you can offer uh help and advice. And do you think that helps with your company getting together with those end users for them to understand what's needed to change? Or, you know, I don't know what your thoughts. You tell me what you think about that.
SPEAKER_02Uh ultimately, as a manufacturer of hygiene products, we spend a lot of time thinking about what we want to do. There's RD that goes into it, there's also testing, but there's the biggest test is when you put it out there into the market and you engage with people, and one of the great things about it is that you see how it can change people's lives just by it being able to put in the right type of toilet system. Uh, I mentioned earlier, if you've got arthritis, how many times you go to say a public washroom and it's book packing, you can't make your fingers work. So it's important then that when we engage with people that come into the awards, that we listen to what's your clientele's needs, because we've got a wide range of products, but it's about tailing the right product in the right place. Then also it's also about education for people that perhaps haven't thought about you know, hygiene for all in this sense, that they can see different types of products that can support them, and there's a phrase that people go around, you know, not every disability is seen. You know, how many times you go to a washroom where the doors are locked, or there's people going and jumping the queue, why they do in that scenario. But now with this um this sort of approach as well, it's to make people aware that here's a hand tail that comes out quietly, so you don't have to worry about the neurodivergent side of things if your child or anybody is worried about the noise. Then there's great things about how do we make sure then that we're educating everybody around that because it's about getting the message out there. So, yes, we we create products and we put a lot of support and marketing behind it, but I think there's no better marketing than when customers use the product and then start recommending it and recognize it's helped them. So that's what's going to be good about the the actual the awards as well is that you can touch it, yes, play with it and see if it works for you.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. So also you talk a lot, obviously, as a talk product, we talk about paper. What about sustainability? What about being green? How does talk work that with this inclusive hygiene?
SPEAKER_02Well, it's into we're a Swedish company. So sustainability has been part of their DNA for hundreds of years. Um prior to being called ST, we were SCA, which was the Swedish paper company. And I had the pleasure of going to the uh the forest that SCA owned, which was the size of Wales. And one of the interesting facts there was that when we harvest a tree, then it takes a hundred years for that tree to grow to be able to be harvested. So sustainability has always been part of the make-up. Now that we're SETI, sustainability is as key and as important to us now as it was then. And one of the key things is it's not just about how do we make products that is sustainable, it was how do we last. The products last for a long time as well, in terms of we've designed something and it lasts a long time because it meets the needs of people. So sustainability is key to what we do, it's not just about how do we get the right paper resource, but how do we get the right resources? We have to take care of this finite resource that has an infinite demand on it, and that finite resource is fibre. So one of the interesting things that we currently do is recycle hand towels, and that's something that a lot of people are now seeing as something what do you do with your hand towels? Legislation has changed come April in the in in England, we can't just put them into landfill and we can't just keep burning things. Now we can recycle them, and it's recycled in the UK, so that has a great sustainable and ESG messaging for customers, and it's something that's visible and tangible that you can see what we do, you know. You can see how many uh kilograms of CO2 you've taken out, you can see how much waste you've removed, and and the less waste you're putting into the ground has got to be better for anybody everywhere. Um, but sustainability is also how do we use cardboard as uh source of material? It's also looking at how do we use green hydrogen, how do we reduce the amount of water we use? So there are lots and lots of ways that we impact on sustainability, and we like to talk to ourselves the the world's green is tissue manufacturer, so it means an awful lot to us sustainability.
SPEAKER_00And how does that compare with some of your competitors who may be trying to get people to use um electric hand dryers or bamboo and sugar cane paper? How how would you say that ultimately knowledge and and sustainability compares?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I'm not gonna sit here and and rubbish other companies for, I'm just yeah, and they have their focus. What we look at though is how do we educate customers to make the right choice? You know, obviously, over the years, jet air dryers, you see them everywhere. Yeah, and people think it's great because that means you haven't chopped a tree down, but you're still creating energy, and how are you creating that energy? So there's more than just that point of use, it's the whole thing that goes behind it. But at the same time, if you go back to the pandemic, what the government advising you is to catch it, bin it with a paper hand towel. And then there's some other simple things that if you're in a stadium and you've got a queue of people waiting to queue up for the the uh the hot air dryers or the jet air dryers, you'll see certainly blacks will just wipe their hands down the trousers and walk straight out. So it's also with a paper hand towel, you can actually wipe your hands and be quick and out the door. And certainly in some places that means like stadiums, you're out the door and you're buying stuff, you're buying food, you're buying drinks, so you're raising revenue. So it all boils down to what's right for the customer, but we educate them, and ultimately, as long as you've educated them in the right way that we think is the right way, backed up by all the you know the science, it's their choice, their choice, ultimately.
SPEAKER_00And I like that word educate because we at Louis Year Awards want to raise awareness um and also educate, but not educate in the way that you're talking about, because obviously that is very um intricate and it's all about what you do. We want to educate people to go and look for that advice. So, as I said about the exhibits area, you know, they've got people they can go and talk to and get that advice because as you said, legislation's changing and it changes very quickly in the industry. Um so when you come to the awards and you put up an exhibition, do you bring end products or are you just bringing knowledge?
SPEAKER_02What yeah, uh well, luckily we bring both. Okay, you know, so um what we focus on is the products that we believe can have bigger impacts, and so that's about how do we reduce consumption? So everything that we're about is minimizing the amount of product they use. Yeah, so first of all, if you minimize the amount that you're wasting, you're having a bigger impact on sustainability because it's all about taking care of the material, taking care of that commodity that you've got to use, and that that scarcity of of fibre is is key to making sure that the we give them the right amount to use and they're not overusing, it goes around more. So, very much focused on cost and use, yeah, but also it's very much focused on the educational side of things to say, have you considered are you aware of? So, for example, the recycling of hand towels, not everyone is aware that a putting it in what you think is a recycling bin doesn't mean that's been recycled, but also educating to think, what are you doing with those hand towels? So the more that we can make them stop and think, the more we've got a solution for them as well.
SPEAKER_00What would you say to other companies um who might think about getting involved with Louis the Year Awards?
SPEAKER_02I would definitely say do it, I would definitely say engage with you, Becky, because over the 18 months now that we've been engaged with each other, I think um you've seen how we operate, but more importantly, I think we've seen how you're passionate about raising the standards of washrooms, and people think public washroom equals, oh, it's what you find in the car parks outside, and you know, but it's about washrooms across the breadth of the facilities that we all operate in, and anybody that is in this facility management side of away from home is raising the profile of what cleaners do, it's raising the profile of what hygiene products should provide. And I think what I see with you is that passion that wants to succeed and make you know Louis the Awards the premier award, but also cares about the public, and I think you know, if anyone that has that desire to raise the profile, cares about what their products are doing, and has a genuine interest in raising hygiene standards, it's a no-brainer to get involved.
SPEAKER_00Thank you. So I'd like to thank you for taking part in our podcast today. Is there anything else that you would like to tell us that I've missed to ask you about talk or about any of their mission? I mean, obviously, their logo is think ahead, and you've talked about that quite a lot. But is there anything else that you think would be interesting for the listeners?
SPEAKER_02Um well, one of the fascinating things is about um SIT first and foremost, is that we've got very many different brands, as I say, out there. Um, you know, period poverty is something as well that, although it's not in the away from home that we operate in, it's very much something that our tenor brand gets involved in. And again, that's about hygiene for all. You know, when you hear about, you know, in certain countries where they don't have access to the right products, and hygiene is a an issue. It makes you lucky, well, it makes you realise how lucky you are living in the country that we do, where it's a given that everyone should have access to hygiene. So definitely, when I look around within uh the ST company as a whole, it's about how we're raising the price or how we're working with the UN, you know, for the science-based targets. That fascinates me in the sense that it's just toilet paper, but actually, there's a heck of a lot that goes behind it. Yeah. And people view toilet paper as a commodity. It's how cheaper can they get it out of Tesco and co-ops and things of that world. Where actually it's the hygiene that makes children not have sick days at school and therefore learn more. It's about the fact that when you've got um the right products at the workplace, you're stopping sick days as well from there. You look at the pandemic, had a big part to play in reducing uh the spread of uh the diseases, and it's just something that people take for granted that they should always have toilet paper and a hand towel and soap. Because we all moan if it's wrong, we all moan if it's a rotten washroom and there's nowhere to wash your hands, and the hot air dryer's not working, and there's water on the floor because of the hot air dryer spewing things everywhere. So I think you know, it's about for me that the the key thing that talk does is raise the profile, but it's also education, it you know, you can't get away from it. Everyone uses that word educate. Sounds like a politician, you know. Yes, so but what does it actually mean? It means think differently about the products that you use. We spend a lot of time working with people that just think cheap is better, but actually, that if you use a lot more cheap than something that costs a little bit more, you're actually saving money, but more importantly, you're saving the planet one step at a time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's interesting actually that you just brought up that. Um I and Charles attended the um hygiene bank um charity event run by Cleanology, and there was some quite big statistics that came out from that, and 4.2 million people in this country are in some sort of hygiene poverty. And you're quite right, they're not able to get the sanitary products and things that are needed, and it means children don't get educated and people miss days from work. We also actually just going on from that, um, advocate that in the workplace that these rooms should be kept clean and tidy and nice to use because sometimes that's the only area they may have away from their desk, yeah. Um, and it's about mental well-being with that. Um, so just before we round it up, because that's what I was intending to do, but actually you've sort of sparked another uh thought here. How do talk um think about that, the mental well-being? Um, obviously, they're looking at the physical well-being when they're looking into inclusive hygiene. What about the mental well-being of washrooms and how that affects us?
SPEAKER_02It's probably something that people don't really think about. Um bins for boys sort of sums it up for me. You know, as a male, you go, we don't want to talk about things that are wrong with us when it talks about going to the the washroom, going to the toilet. And yet, you know, that can have a real big stigma over people not wanting to go to work because they feel that they can't use the washroom because it's not accommodating for them. So mental well-being as well is a real key key focus. And I think one of the things that we also do is work with a charity called In Kind Direct, where you know we give away a heck of a lot of our products so that people can spread them around. And in kind direct work with a number of charities then to put out um period products, put out hygiene products, so that we should never feel that we can't access hygiene products at any time. And it is a frightening statistic that over four million people can't because we're lucky because we can.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02And I think what we have to do is give back to those that so that everyone can.
SPEAKER_00Stuart, if people want to talk to you or to somebody within talk about what we've discussed today, yeah, is there a a way they can get hold of anybody or a website or well, the the easiest thing is to get onto our website which is www.and do people still say www.
SPEAKER_02But it's talkglobal.com. Okay, lovely. Okay, and there there's a lot of information about things that we've touched briefly over, but there's also some please get in touch so people can contact us that way as well.
SPEAKER_00Brilliant. Well, thank you very much for coming today and speaking to us. Thank you also for being our sponsor, headline sponsor and the representative of it today for us. No problem. And uh, we look forward to another year of working together and bringing awareness and education to everybody in the UK.
SPEAKER_02Looking forward to it, Becca.
SPEAKER_00So thank you, Stuart, for coming today and talking to us and being the representative for Talk and raising education and awareness through Louis The Year Awards.