Rub-a-dub-dub
From a Co-operative Funeralcare press release: Staff at The Co-operative Funeralcare in Copson Street are holding an open day between 10am to 2pm for residents to find out more about the work of a funeral director. The horse-drawn hearse and Only Fools and Horses’ fan hearse will be on display to illustrate how funerals can […]
A syphilitic blister on the face of funeral service
Dear Mr Greenfield, This has been a horrible week for you. Or has it? You will have by now appraised your reputational vulnerability, conducted a jeopardy assessment and learned how many people watched The British Way of Death. Taking heart from the recovery of Co-operative Funeralcare, you may be reckoning your best move is to […]
Problem solved
When Co-operative Funeralcare reported itself to the NAFD in the aftermath of Channel 4’s Undercover Undertaker, it is doubtful whether the industry’s major trade body greeted the ploy with glee. A problem shared is a problem doubled. Was it really necessary for Funeralcare to hand themselves in? Inasmuch as the film revealed practices which fell far short […]
Council warns undertaker about soliciting
Back in July we posted a report about an unsatisfactory Co-op Funeralcare-arranged funeral: “Beverley Webb and Michelle Blakesley said the way Co-op Funeralcare handled Gloria Roper’s service was ‘shambolic’ after one worker said: ‘We’ve brought out our 4.15pm instead.’” Read it here. The matter we publicise today is Beverley and Michelle’s allegation that the Weymouth […]
FD Darren goes the extra mile
Darren Barker is the manager of Anglia Co-operative*, St Neots. When the family of a little girl who died last year found out how much it would cost to have the Gruffalo painted on her coffin, Darren offered to do it for them. He gave up his days off to do it. Says local celebrant […]
Open letter to George Tinning, Managing Director, Co-operative Funeralcare #4
Dear Mr Tinning, Woo, sorry! Caught you unawares? Thought we’d lost interest? No, we’re not going away. And not just us. There’s the GMB union, too. As you know, they’re disappointed in you for derecognising them in 2007. You can read their own campaign page here. How on earth can a co-operative banish a trade […]
The view below the radar
An article in the Times dated 15 July, based on an interview with Mike McCollum, ceo of Dignity plc, offers one or two (no more) features of interest. His definition of an undertaker? “We’re event organisers,” says McCollum. “We arrange a family event for you on very short notice, which you wish you didn’t have […]
There but for the grace…
From the Sun, 18 July: An undertaker with Britain’s biggest funeral firm has been arrested on suspicion of snatching a dead gran’s savings. Former Co-operative Funeralcare worker Grahame Lawler, 37, is suspected of rifling through the pensioner’s household belongings less than an hour after she died. Could happen to any funeral director? The Sun understands […]
Open letter to George Tinning, Managing Director, Co-operative Funeralcare #3
Dear Mr Tinning, I found myself, this morning, entertaining one of those whimsical thoughts that pops into our heads when we’re showering. Have you noticed how people tend to say ‘He’s been dead for 30 years, now’ instead of, ‘He died 30 years ago’? It’s as if they regard death as something akin to a […]
Follow-up letter to George Tinning, Managing Director, Co-operative Funeralcare
Dear Mr Tinning, It’s almost a fortnight since I wrote to you on 27 June. You haven’t replied. I’m disappointed, of course. I’m not wholly surprised, though. You’ve had a lot on your plate in the aftermath of Undercover Undertaker — and now you’ve got an Early Day Motion in Parliament to contend with. The […]
