What our people say about working at Funeral Partners
The views of our team are important to us. That’s why we ask everybody to take part in regular surveys to gain important feedback as to what’s going well and suggestions for any improvements or new ideas.
We’re delighted that people chose to take time out of their day to give us their opinions. We take the feedback seriously, continuously striving to make a happy working environment and ensure job satisfaction. Some highlights from this year’s survey include:
- 94% of people feel that they can make a valuable contribution to the success of Funeral Partners and their funeral home
- 84% said that ‘their manager leads by support and encourages me to perform to the best of my abilities’
- 87% feel motivated in their roles
- 92% are proud to work in their team
Sam Bryan
Funeral Director
Sam joined Woking Funeral Service in 2003, which later became part of Funeral Partners when it was acquired in 2007.
Sam first joined Funeral Partners as a Funeral Service Operative and was conducting funerals from 2012 onwards. He was promoted to a Funeral Director 4 years later.
He added: “I know quite a few of the families we carry out services for as my daughter went to school in the area, and my daughter and wife worked in a local shop. I wanted to help the families I know.”
Sam has many responsibilities, but his main role is to provide compassionate support to the bereaved family members and arrange the funeral according to their wishes. He will assist with administrative duties, floral tributes, and burial or cremation requests.
He said: “I’ve seen a lot of change in the time I’ve been here, particularly improvements to the premises. My favourite part of the job is when, after a service, a family will say thank you for making the day bearable. I think about how I would want the service to be if it was mine or if it was for a loved one of mine. I always offer the same service I would expect myself.”
Alexander Seaman
Funeral Service Operative
Alexander Seaman joined Funeral Partners as a Funeral Service Operative (FSO) after Hammerton’s Funeral Directors was acquired by the network in 2020.
He said: “Funeral Partners offers so many opportunities. They listen to what you want and need, and although they’re a big company, they’re very in touch with their employees.”
No two days are the same for Alexander, who might be bringing deceased into care from the coroners mortuary or preparing a chapel of rest for a family. The variety is what drew Alexander to his role and drives him to succeed.
Funeral Service Operatives play an active role behind the scenes, working in the mortuary, dressing the deceased, maintaining vehicle health and safety logs; as well as participating in funeral services,
He described: “You are an ambassador for Funeral Partners and always uphold its values to the highest standards, whether you’re pallbearing, handling administrative duties or driving in processions.”
Alexander believes confidence, empathy and attention to detail are key ingredients to what makes a successful FSO.
He said: “My role involves so many skills such as customer service, and being personable. Most importantly, you must be inclusive and caring.”
Trevor Clark
Funeral Service Operative
Trevor Clark spent most of his life as an IT technician. However, wanting a chance to work closely with people and make a difference to lives, he turned to the funeral industry.
Upon joining Funeral Partners in 2019 as a Funeral Service Operative (FSO), Trevor found a role that gave him enormous variety and satisfaction, from pallbearing and driving in processions, to comforting clients and their families.
He said: “Having the opportunity to help families at one of the most difficult times in their lives and make a difference is incredibly rewarding.
Funeral Partners offers continuous training to keep my skills up to date and ensure I can turn my hand to a number of different tasks.”
Trevor enjoys working with a range of people in his role, including Funeral Directors, Funeral Arrangers and fellow FSOs, to deliver high-quality funeral services for local families. As a result, he lists empathy, communication, and close attention to detail as important qualities.
Caz Denning
Funeral Director
Caz joined Funeral Partners in 2018 with over 15 years’ experience in the funeral industry, she quickly enjoyed the independent yet team-driven nature of the role which Funeral Partners offered.
Caz Denning relishes the customer-facing aspects of being a Funeral Director, as she oversees everything from the wellbeing of her colleagues to supervising and conducting funerals.
She said: “I have my own responsibilities but can rely on my team for support. There are also opportunities to learn something new every day, be that through arranging and conducting funerals with unique requests, or through training and development workshops.
Being an integral part of the community and participating in charitable events, make interpersonal skills essential to the role.
She described: “I love helping others and getting to know people in the community, it adds an extra layer to my role and helps to dispel some of the myths about the profession.
Funeral Partners has helped Caz hone her skills through training opportunities and ongoing support.
She said: “Funeral Partners never sees you as a number. Each and every employee is cared for and appreciated, no matter their role.
“They might be a big company, but they never miss the small things.”
Brett Benton
Regional Support Manager
Brett Benton worked his way up through a variety of roles at Funeral Partners to become Regional Support Manager and sees no limit to his future with the family of funeral businesses.
He joined Funeral Partners as a Funeral Service Operative when the business he worked for was acquired by the network in 2010 and was promoted to Funeral Director soon after. Now, he is a Regional Support Manager for a number of funeral homes in the North of England.
He said: “In terms of career progression, Funeral Partners has been amazing. I didn’t think I would be able to reach a higher level than Funeral Director, but due to the size of the company there’s so much scope for growth.
“Funeral Partners owns more than 225 funeral homes yet is able to maintain a close-knit family feel. Everyone knows everyone, and communication is valued.”
No two days are the same for Brett, who is responsible for area level operational support including recruitment, personnel challenges, equipment, supplies, uniform, property, and fleet maintenance and more, for 37 funeral homes in the north.
A large part of Brett’s role also involves ensuring health and safety compliance across the workplace and management of personal protective equipment stock, as well as working closely with new team members to help provide induction training and ensure the smooth integration of new businesses.
“Funeral Partners owns more than 225 funeral homes yet is able to maintain a close-knit family feel. Everyone knows everyone, and communication is valued.”
Sally Shutler
Senior Funeral Arranger and Administrator
Sally is a senior Funeral arranger administrator based in W Hodges Funeral Directors in Sevenoaks Kent and has been with Funeral Partners for nearly five years.
Sally experienced first-hand how versatile the funeral industry is when she left her career as a fully qualified HGV Mechanic to become a carer and then moved again to Funeral Partners with no experience but the will to learn.
She said: “I enjoy looking after people and providing a service that makes a difference to people’s lives. I was attracted to Funeral Partners because of this but have stayed for all these years because of how far I have come.”
Sally has since progressed into a senior role, and in 2020 she was awarded Funeral Partners Professional of the Year for the southeast region.
Sally added: “Skills are so transferable, who would have ever thought that my motor trade skills of admin and being methodical and organised would help me as a funeral arranger, but they do! And my journey through the care industry only confirmed my love for looking after people and empathy and communication skills.
“You may think you’re stuck in a certain career but at Funeral Partners, we show that anyone willing to learn and flexible with their skills, can join us!”
Paul Rayner
Funeral Service Operative
I have worked at Huddersfield Funeral Home since 2009, initially employed on a casual basis advancing to 20 hours part-time and now employed as a full-time Funeral Service Operative. I enjoy my work which is varied, ensuring the day of the funeral goes to plan with the team, assisting with caring for the deceased, ensuring the branch is kept to its expected high standards and that stock of equipment is maintained. I also step in and arrange Funerals when required and take great pride in having been ‘loaned’ to branches in other areas of the country to help when cover has been needed. I love that you are able to get involved in different initiatives at Funeral Partners and recently created ‘Around the World’, an interactive slide show/quiz that I present at local care homes. I find getting involved in the local community and charities very rewarding at work as I also enjoy raising money for various charities by entering sporting events in my spare time.“I love that you are able to get involved in different initiatives at Funeral Partners and recently created ‘Around the World’, an interactive slide show/quiz that I present at local care homes.”
Tara Cameron
Regional Development Director
Tara is a Regional Development Director for North East and Scotland and has been working for Funeral Partners since November 2015.
She said: “I moved to Scotland in 2015 after 8 years of funeral directing, including five in management for the largest funeral company in Australia. I initially didn’t want to return to the industry and wanted to try my hand at something else, however after seeing a position advertised, I just couldn’t help myself.”
Tara started out at Funeral Partners as an Area Development Manager (ADM) and stayed in this position for two years.
She said:” this was a challenging role which still enabled me to occasionally arrange and conduct but primarily to focus on the team, branch, community, and development of these.”
Funeral Partners is a rapidly growing company who encourage and offer opportunities for career progression within the company.
She added: “I was encouraged and offered other opportunities to assist in other avenues of the business, this included integration of recent acquisitions and the development of a new region. I was also fortunate to be considered and then promoted to the role of Regional Development Director for the newly developed region, which is a testament to Funeral Partners how they foster and progress from within the business.”
“I most appreciate working in a company which values and places emphasis on collaborative working. Funeral Partners is a growing company who are genuinely focussed and committed to their people both new and old, this enables our most important teams, those looking after our clients directly, to do the best job they can. Funeral Partners is dedicated to empowering their teams with the tools, training, and confidence they need to look after our client families as leaders and innovators in the industry.”
“I most appreciate working in a company which values and places emphasis on collaborative working. Funeral Partners is a growing company who are genuinely focussed and committed to their people both new and old”
Fiona Hughes
Area Development Manager
Fiona previously worked in banking and recruitment before joining Funeral Partners in February 2016. She is now an Area Development Manager for Greater Birmingham.
She said: “I never imagined that I could carve such a rewarding and successful career within the funeral sector, but that is exactly what I’ve done. Driving standards, people and outstanding client service are all skills developed in previous roles but transferred directly into my role as Area Development Manager within Funeral Partners. “
An Area Development Manager can make a real difference to families during a difficult time in their lives. A key part of her role is ensuing exceptional client service for the families she serves.
Fiona demonstrates outstanding leadership skills and ensures her colleagues play an integral part in supporting the local community. She is proud to be part of a company who are determined to raise standards and deliver the highest level of care to all.
She added:” Developing a team around me, who are passionate and continually strive to go above and beyond, is highly rewarding.”
Funeral Partners regularly promotes from within and has a structured development plan to support personal growth.
She concluded: “The management team recognise that our people are key to the success and growth of the company, with personal development actively encouraged and recognised through the competency framework.
The right attitude and work ethic leads to opportunity, promotion and combined with a variety of roles makes it a great place to build a career that really makes a difference to so many people.”
Zoe Lindo
Funeral Arranger Administrator
The funeral business is a very varied job role so there is plenty of opportunity to learn new things, gaining experience of working within a community alongside Church’s, Ministers, Coroners, hospitals, charities, florists and many other organisations and people across many areas.
Working so closely with families you need attention to detail, excellent communication, listening, administration skills and organisation abilities. Also having an understanding and acceptance for many religious beliefs.
Coming from a retail background, I’ve secured many transferable skills required for this business. Working within this flourishing company it has given me a vast understanding of how to deal with people who are bereaved and mourning.
It gives you great satisfaction that you’re not only helping and supporting people but also giving them a sense of relief as you are taking care of many of the funeral arrangements and are also there to continue offering support to families that are in need.
“It gives you great satisfaction that you’re not only helping and supporting people but also giving them a sense of relief as you are taking care of many of the funeral arrangements and are also there to continue offering support to families that are in need.”
Karen Rattigan
Area Development Manager
Karen started her career in the funeral industry as a Funeral Arranger at Pinks Funeral Directors in Hamsey Green, Karen was promoted to the role of Area Development Manager in October 2021.
She said: “As a mother of five I dedicated most of my life to raising my children, maintaining my focus on my family. In doing so I found a passion for event organising, including charity and non-profit events, religious and family occasions and parties that catered to specific requirements. Raising a family wasn’t all parties and I was no stranger to the heartache of losing loved ones.”
Area Development Managers play a key role in ensuring exceptional service to families, as well as developing the funeral homes they oversee. They do this through a combination of exceptional people management, good commercial awareness, and active engagement with the local community.
She added: “My personal experiences drew me to join Cruse fifteen years ago as a bereavement counsellor and I very quickly realised that this was something that came naturally to me. Drawing on my passion for organising, empathetic nature and family-orientation I feel that I am doing something that not only allows me to support individuals and families when they need it, but to reach out to my community raising money and more importantly an awareness for a number of groups and charities.”
“Drawing on my passion for organising, empathetic nature and family-orientation I feel that I am doing something that not only allows me to support individuals and families when they need it, but to reach out to my community raising money and more importantly an awareness for a number of groups and charities”