Hyrtoaletten AB acquires Nordic Toilet
Without toilets, public events would be impossible. But toilets alone are not the key to successful concerts and sports events – it also takes long-term relationships with a high level of commitment and a focus on both customers and end users. To strengthen its offering of problem-free events, Hyrtoaletten AB has acquired Nordic Toilet, thus becoming the largest provider of portable toilet solutions in Sweden.
Concerts, running races, cultural events and other activities depend on access to public toilets. Yet installing permanent toilets at every site where events could be held is not a sustainable solution. That is where Hyrtoaletten comes in.
– It has to be possible for visitors to answer a call of nature, says Hyrtoaletten CEO Pia Arvidsson. And of course, water and sewage connections are not available everywhere. With portable toilets, these are integrated, with 10–20 litres of water being used per 1,000 visitors. Compared with a flush toilet, which requires 6,000 litres of water for the same number of people, it’s an incredible resource savings.
– Many event arrangers view toilets as a necessary evil, something that has to be discreetly tucked away, says Patrik Ekman, founder and CEO of Nordic Toilet. But in fact they are among the most important elements of an event. It is utterly impossible to stage any kind of event if there are no toilets.
Long-term relations for successful events
Hyrtoaletten AB was founded in 1993 and has been owned since 2018 by Danfo AB. Since the start, the concept has been not just to provide toilets, but to provide a service. Today, service is the essence of the business and the key to its success.
– We develop long-term relationships with our customers, playing an active role right from the planning stages of an event, says Pia Arvidsson. We take part in discussions in order to understand how an event changes from year to year, what can be done to optimise the flow and how many toilets will be needed and where. In some locations, we can see that a toilet trailer will be a better alternative, and in other locations, urinals. The result is that our customers know they will enjoy a trouble-free event with us handling all operations and service from start to finish – whether we are needed for a single day or several weeks.
Hyrtoaletten acquires Nordic Toilet
The year 2022 has been an exciting one for Hyrtoaletten, which now expands through its acquisition of Nordic Toilet, including all its portable toilet units and its customer base. Nordic Toilet was founded 10 years ago, and like Hyrtoaletten focuses on providing a good experience, not just for its customers but also for end users.
– When we started out, we wanted to end the three biggest complaints about portable toilets, says Patrik Ekman. Namely that they were dark, splashed with urine, especially the men’s, and smelled bad. So we installed lighting, expanded our offering to include urinals, and made sure all our toilets smelled lemony fresh. Our business took off like a rocket. And all because we think more about the people who are actually going to use the toilet than the people renting it.
Toilet hire from north to south
With this acquisition, Hyrtoaletten becomes Sweden’s largest toilet hire company, with 4,000 toilet units available. The fact that the two companies involved in the merger are Nordic Toilet and Hyrtoaletten is not entirely unexpected.
– Historically, we have operated very similarly, with customer focus and good service being very important for both of us, says Pia Arvidsson. It’s going to be an exciting spring and summer. It feels important to get things right so everybody will be satisfied. Now we are going to broaden our offering and reach out to events throughout Sweden, with even more equipment, already situated from Luleå in the north to Malmö in the south.
– Nordic Toilet has been my baby and my life’s work, says Patrik Ekman. So it feels good that we’re selling to Hyrtoaletten. They have years of experience, but we never considered them competitors. We worked as colleagues, often working together. That’s why it feels so right that it is Pia who will continue to run and develop what we built up.
Danfo Group strengthens market-leading position
Through Hyrtoaletten’s acquisition of Nordic Toilet, the Danfo Group strengthens its position in the strategically important portable toilet solutions segment.
– The acquisition strengthens our market-leading position, and as in our other product areas, we will continue to lead the transition to ever more secure and sustainable, circular-economy products, says Danfo Group CEO Jonas Olsson. Hyrtoaletten is run by people with broad expertise and a fantastic commitment to helping our customers put on successful events. Service and quality are always in focus at Hyrtoaletten, and the same is true of Nordic Toilet. The acquisition gives us the necessary preconditions to continue expanding throughout Sweden and in the other Nordic countries.
Safer events with hire toilets
Concerts and other cultural events should be fun, memorable experiences – and safe experiences. Hyrtoaletten identified a need to improve the security of women at cultural festivals, where distant, separate toilet areas often create problems. The solution was a brand new product for the toilet market.
– Unfortunately, women have had bad experiences with pushy men around the toilets at previous events, especially when alcohol is involved, says Pia Arvidsson. That’s why we developed Lapee, a urinal for women. This makes it easier to separate the toilet areas with urinals, one for women and one for men, and make the event safer. It was used at the Roskilde Festival in 2018 with good results, so it will be exciting to see how people react to it in the future.
A summer full of events - and hire toilets
The pandemic placed the whole world of live events under quarantine, along with all the companies that serve them. Now that the restrictions have been lifted, everybody is eager to go out again – artists and visitors alike. And that means it’s full speed ahead for Hyrtoaletten.
– It feels fantastic, says Pia Arvidsson. Thanks to the acquisition, we have even better opportunities to work with more events and create long-term relationships throughout the country. One interesting effect of the pandemic is that we are seeing more demand for hygiene solutions. Access to toilets increases opportunities to wash your hands and thus avoid transmission of disease.
Future needs for portable toilet solutions
The high season for live events, running races and concerts is coming soon. For Hyrtoaletten, the season has already begun, with the Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon closely followed by the H22 City Expo. And new markets were created during the pandemic with strong demand for toilet hire.
– With more and more people spending holidays at home during the pandemic, there has been growing demand for toilets in parks and near bathing beaches, golf courses, padel courts and outdoor cafes, says Pia Arvidsson. We see an exciting summer ahead of us, with many exciting new jobs.
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