The man on a mission to transform the UK’s public toilets
Raymond Martin has driven about 80,000 miles in three years from his home in Northern Ireland across to the UK. He happily travels a tremendous distance lobbying and campaigning on behalf of the British Toilet Association (BTA) striving for decent toilet provision for us all.
As MD of the BTA, Raymond carries out toilet surveys for local councils and meets with a range of organisations. Back in the office, there are phone calls, emails and video calls, website updates, producing marketing materials and answering/supporting member queries. Being regarded as one of the leading national experts on toilet provision and an ardent campaigner for improved facilities is a busy job, often leading to lengthy 12 hour days.
Raymond said: “The success of the BTA demands longer hours. But I just don't feel I could work in Tesco's packing shelves or be a crossing patrol man or work in a candy shop. I know it sounds a bit corny but I feel like God put his hand on my shoulder and said ‘I have a job for you’. I love it and feel extremely privileged to be able to try and make a significant difference.”
The BTA launched in1999 as a not-for-profit organisation, working to promote the highest standards of hygiene and overall provision in all ‘away from home’ toilet facilities across the UK.
It has members from every facet of the toilet industry and their views are represented and promoted through a Board or Management Advisory Committee. Raymond immensely values the advice he receives from those colleagues and the support of the organisation’s political group leading on Government lobbying.
The BTA estimates that nearly 50 per cent of public toilets, right across the UK, have been lost following public funding cuts in 2011, when local councils reduced toilet provision to save money.
After many tough years, the BTA is now finally on the cusp of achieving its key goal of getting the Government to set down a legal statutory ‘duty’ for local councils to develop a toilet strategy.
They have the ear of the Government and, for the first time, there is potentially funding available which councils could use to invest in improved toilet facilities.
In 2024/2025, BTA representatives met the then Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG) Alex Norris MP.
Raymond recalls: “The minister was appalled that successive governments had done nothing about this essential issue.
‘He said ‘toilets are an absolutely vital piece of local infrastructure. I totally agree with you; we now have to do something positive for both our residents and visitors’.
“And then suddenly the minister gets moved to a different role. So the job begins again.”
Alex Norris was duly succeeded by the Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE, and the BTA is delighted that his office remains willing to listen to its lobbying.
To demonstrate his understanding; in late 2025, MHCLG announced their Pride in Place policy, which allocated £5bn (over five years) to regenerate disadvantaged neighbourhoods, create safer streets and open spaces – even invest in new or upgrading local public toilets.
Raymond explains: “We are so much further on than we ever have been. I'm delighted to say we genuinely believe that the Government understands better now the role that toilets play in our everyday well-being. We are more than one foot in the door; we are in the house and climbing the stairs.
“We’ve advised Westminster and now have officials and ministers agreeing ‘there's votes in this’. I'm hoping that within the next six or 12 months that many senior politicians will take a seat and say, ‘right, okay, let's work with the BTA to address and socially fix this problem.”
Raymond said: “Up to this point in time, the 383 county and city councils and 10,000 parish councils have no actual legal responsibility to provide toilets. There's no actual legislation where they can draw down funding to support the running, servicing and the regular maintenance of toilets and they're struggling really badly.
“We need councils and the councillors to sit down and think about the various user groups to whom toilets are an essential facility, and decide how many, where and why they need better public toilets.”
Raymond joined the BTA after meeting founder Richard Chisnell 25 years ago. He firmly believes his own life experiences led him towards realising the importance of good quality loos.
While raising two daughters, he had to change diapers in a supermarket carpark or on the floors of disabled toilets due to inadequate provision. Every trip out with the kids or his mum meant searching locations for a decent loo. That’s now being repeated, says Raymond, as he grows older and his needs and those of the grandkids become ever more urgent.
He explained: “Toilets are an absolutely essential piece of infrastructure to make towns and cities and villages work. If you want people to come into the high streets and spend their hard-earned cash, you've got to welcome them with good, clean, quality toilet provision.
“We have always known that toilets are about the health and well-being of the populace. But good public toilets invariably support the local economy, shops and businesses, they encourage social inclusion, bringing people out and helping communities to thrive.
“They're essential for equality for people with disabilities or a range of accessibility issues, whether that be mental, physical, emotional or whatever. In our first world society they play a significant role in affording us personal dignity, decency and also safety.
“Going to the toilet is a natural function of our bodies, the same as eating, sleeping, drinking and breathing. We all have to find a decent clean and hygienic public toilet when we’re ‘away from home’.
“I’m 70 years of age and people ask why I don’t retire. I can’t retire at the moment because I've spent so much time trying to get this ball over the line - I have to see it touched down.”