November 2021

Well, 2021 has certainly been a challenging year. COVID has put an enormous strain on all bereavement sector workers and as the largest provider of emergency cover in the UK, we have been understandably stretched at times.

Lee spent 6 months as regional manager for crematoria and woodland burial to Southern Co-op, following which he was appointed consultant on the new build crematorium at Thirsk for Hambleton District Council. The facility is due to open in February 2022.

New build at Hambleton as at November 2021

Melissa, Oliver and James have spent the year providing both cremator technician cover and administration cover throughout the country.

One significant development is that Georgina Bembridge has joined our associates in providing staff cover to UK crematoria. Lee came across Georgina back in 2005 when she was appointed manager of Sherwood Forest Crematorium.

Georgina has worked for Memoria, Dignity and Southern Co-op as a crematorium and cemetery manager and we are delighted to be joined by someone with such operational experience and knowledge.

Georgina has been fully occupied providing interim management assistance since joining us. She has helped take the pressure from Lee who, until this year, had provided all management assistance personally.

There is no slowdown on offers to our company to provide management assistance. Indeed in the last week, 3 authorities have contacted us for interim management help.

We are firmly of the opinion that the experiences of Melissa, Oliver and James across various crematoria mean that any one of the 3 could provide competent management assistance with the experience of Lee and Georgina to fall back on at any time.

Sharon and Curtis continue to provide excellent back office support in looking after all of our workers and associates with everything from booking flights, accommodation and car hire to payments of wages and invoicing.

Our many associates have been absolute stars during a difficult year and have done us proud. We already have 8 people booked out for December with some bookings for the next 3 months.

In terms of consultancy, we have supplied Horizon Cremation with both a review of their memorial sales throughout the group and a key stakeholder study for their proposed new build in the Wirral.

We also provided a feasibility study for an above ground mausoleum burial village for a Hertfordshire authority.

In 2019, we provided a key stakeholder study for Rushcliffe Borough Council to assist their planning application for a new build crematorium. Following this application being successful, I am delighted to announce that building work has commenced on the project. It is great to see another of our company projects come to fruition.

2021 has cemented our place as the go to company in the United Kingdom for any authority needing crematoria assistance.

January 2021

As we reflect back on 2020, due to COVID it was an unprecedented year both for the bereavement industry and our company.

I am proud to announce that Curtis Snashfold has joined the company assisting Sharon in providing office support. Curtis has been working on the new website, completing payroll duties and formatting company reports.

As the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to the bereavement sector in the UK, we had to overcome significant challenges to enable us to assist all authorities that were in need of our help.

Lee has spent the last 6 months providing interim management assistance to two authorities, one in Staffordshire, one in Sussex.

Lee now has 3 pieces of consultancy to complete, a strategic review, a feasibility study and needs assessment and a memorial review.

James has spent the last 5 months providing administration assistance for a Midlands authority with both Melissa and Ollie providing constant cremator technician cover wherever needed.

Several of our associates have also been providing emergency assistance to authorities, all of whom have delivered client service excellence.

As I enter my 40th year in the industry, I am so proud of the service we offer as a company. Our staff deliver the standards of service consistently that we have become synonymous with and I am thankful to each and every one of them.

June 2020

With COVID-19 cases peaking in May, we have found our services in very high demand. We have been providing 13 staff at once, 12 qualified cremator technicians and 1 chapel attendant, to help various authorities across the UK.

We have added a further member of staff to our full time team of people and welcome Bethany Keen to the company. Beth becomes our 6th full time member of staff and is providing chapel attendant assistance to a London authority at present.

Since our last update in April, James and Ollie have both become qualified cremator technicians and provided assistance to a private multi crematorium owner throughout May, both travelling to various sites. Both are assisting a local authority throughout June. With such a high demand we are lucky to have James and Ollie to help us meet it.

The demand for our assistance has meant we have increased our associate numbers too and can now offer 17 qualified cremator technicians to the industry, a number unrivalled anywhere else in the UK.