Three established funeral businesses in the Midlands and North of England have joined Funeral Partners, as the company continues to grow.Well-known Tyne & Wear funeral business Daren Persson, Lancashire’s Kavanagh and Coates, and High Street Funerals Erdington, Birmingham, have all chosen to become part of the UK’s third largest funeral services business.
Daren Persson, 51, established his funeral business in North Shields 14 years ago, and has expanded to employ eight staff across two branches, with the Wallsend branch opening six years ago. Daren is remaining at the helm, with more time to focus on looking after his customers.
Daren, who lives in North Shields, has welcomed the move to become part of Funeral Partners: “It’s reassuring as a manager and I’m happy for my staff that they will now have extra support to manage important functions like health and safety, employment regulations and marketing.”
Kavanagh and Coates was established in Heywood, Lancashire, in 2003 and is at the heart of its local community. Frank Coates will continue to manage the business, working with his son-in-law Jamie McCulloch and David Iddon.
Frank, 68, who served 30 years as a policeman, many of them in the Heywood community, joined the funeral business when he retired from the Greater Manchester force. The President of Heywood Rotary Club, Frank and his wife Susan are active in many community projects, supporting the local food bank and the Cellar Project, which helps vulnerable adults.
Frank chose Funeral Partners because he was reassured that it would continue to provide a caring service to the people of Heywood. He said: “It was a big change to move from being an independent business to part of a larger business but I’m more than happy with the decision.
“It was the right choice and we look forward to working with Funeral Partners to ensure we continue to serve the local community in the best way possible.”
High Street Funerals, Erdington, was established by experienced funeral director Stephanie Mason in 2014.
Stephanie is well known in the Birmingham area having worked in the funeral profession for 16 years, and will continue to serve the local community and maintain ‘business as usual’:
“I pride myself on delivering professionalism with compassion and experience and I look forward to maintaining this level of service, while benefiting from increased support from Funeral Partners.”
Phillip Greenfield, Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am delighted to welcome these excellent businesses to Funeral Partners family, we pride ourselves in investing in the very best funeral homes allowing them to continue to serve local families for generations to come.”
Any Funeral Directors considering selling their businesses should contact Funeral Partners Chief Executive Officer Sam Kershaw on 07834 531822, email: sam.kershaw@funeralpartners.co.uk
