The HR team at Funeral Partners Limited (FP) has expanded to meet the requirements of the rapidly growing business.
The company is currently acquiring more businesses which will improve its geographic coverage and bring many more staff into the group.
The HR team now comprises four highly qualified in-house professionals: Head of HR Claire Billington, HR Manager Maureen Groves, HR Advisor Kirsty McNeil and Learning and Development Manager Maria McGrath.
The team are responsible for attracting the right skills and talent into the business, the integration of new acquisitions and the development and welfare of people, ensuring FP has the right processes, structure and benefits across the company’s 320 employees and 74 businesses.
Claire, who previously worked as HR Director for a leading IT and telecoms company, said: “Our aim is to make this a great place to work, giving people fantastic career opportunities and ensuring they have the right skills to deliver the best service in the industry.
“Not many businesses offer a career path for life but in this industry we can. We want to be the employer of choice – the best company with the best standards.” She said.
Maria brings more than a decade’s experience of working in learning and development globally in the hospitality industry, as well as in the facilities management and leisure sectors.
She commented: “I’m very passionate about people. I want to bring something unique to the industry, something other funeral businesses aren’t doing. I want to help our funeral companies to develop their businesses in a different way, developing our leaders at the same time to drive the change that is needed across the business.”
Training and development will be delivered both within branches and at FP’s training suite at its headquarters in Hare Hatch near Reading.
FP Managing Director John Whigham said the development of the HR division signalled another exciting phase in the company’s growth programme, which has seen the introduction of a new team of Regional Development Directors in readiness for a programme of acquisitions.
“Our HR team have been tasked with ensuring we develop a consistent process across the group, taking the best of what we do in individual locations and rolling it across the country,” he said. “We want to attract talented individuals to work for us who see working in the funeral industry as a real vocation.”
FP Chief Executive Phillip Greenfield added: “These additions to the team herald the next phase of our evolution as a modern business in an historic business sector demonstrating our commitment to developing the enormous talent that exists within the company and attracting the best people to join us.”
“It represents another huge stride down the road to achieving the twin objectives of being the best employers with the highest standards in the industry.”
