Dignity Directors Divest Themselves
We’re not experts in stocks and shares here at GFG Towers, not by a long way, but even to us the sight of lots of top executives in a company selling their shares in the months before issuing profit warnings and presiding over a slump of around 50% in share value looks a little […]
St. Margaret’s Hospice Funerals
It’s here! Today’s the day that the first Hospice Funerals branch in the UK opens for business. The people of Taunton have been watching the refurbishment of the former charity shop over the last few weeks, as the grey paint (not dark and forbidding) was applied to the exterior and the shiny new furnishings […]
Harrison Funeral Home
It’s always sad to hear that an independently owned funeral business has been sold to one of the big three corporate chains. It’s even more so when the company concerned is one that has been on the Good Funeral Guide ‘Recommended’ list for years. So when we were told by a third party this weekend […]
Another year older and closer to death..
So that was 2017, over and done with. It was quite a year in Funeralworld. We lost one of the brightest stars, the founder of the Death Cafe movement, Jon Underwood, who died on 27th June 2017, tragically young at 44. Jon’s legacy is not only his two beautiful children, but the continuing spread of Death […]
HOSPICE FUNERALS CAN BE THE BEST, NO QUESTION
Hat’s off to Ann Lee, I say. She’s the courageous CEO of St Margaret’s Hospice, Taunton who has launched a joined-up funeral service with the twin goals of caring for her patients in death and earning some much-needed money to pay for the care her hospice extends to the living. What’s not to like? A […]
The business case for a hospice funeral service
To: The CEO of the North Devon Hospice Dear Stephen Roberts It is with sadness and grave misgivings that I have learned of your decision to throw in your lot with Hospice Funerals. Any new business is a gamble, but I think you’re risking more than money in this new venture. Let me tell […]
Disingenuous? Really?
Predictably, the Good Funeral Guide’s recent decision to take a public stance on our misgivings about the wisdom of UK hospices engaging in the Hospice Funerals franchise opportunity has not been welcomed by the parties involved in this venture. We have been described as ‘disingenuous’, ‘concerned with protecting the commercial interests of those who […]
To the trustees of all hospices in the UK
Last weekend, we despatched letters to the boards of trustees of every hospice in the UK to share our concerns about the new franchise offer that was launched at the Hospices UK conference the previous week. Our misgivings about this venture are shared by a number of individuals and companies who gave permission for […]
An open letter to the National Association of Funeral Directors
This afternoon an e-mail was sent to all members of the National Association of Funeral Directors announcing that Mandie Lavin, the CEO appointed just under 15 months ago, is no longer employed by the Association. No explanation has been given for her abrupt departure, but as the current President steps in to take the reins […]
Look what’s cooking.
There’s something afoot in funeral world. Letters have been pinging into the inbox of funeral directors around the country advising them of a shiny new entrant into the world of undertaking. “Over the next few days you may read about a new funeral company called Hospice Funerals LLP. It has been set up by St […]
