The GFG Blog
2019Aug
Thoughts from an unaffiliated funeral director (i)
Fran Hall
Aug
31
1 comment
After yesterday’s deadline for unaffiliated funeral directors to make contact with the FSCSR came and went, we thought we would share some of the thoughts from some of the people who managed to scrabble together a response to the request within the time frame offered. Given that all responses
I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date
Fran Hall
Aug
30
6 comments
Eight days ago (three of which were over a bank holiday weekend), funeral directors who don’t belong to either of the funeral trade associations were invited to get in touch with the Funeral Service Consumer Standards Review – the self appointed body founded by Dignity PLC that is looking at
The CMA is looking at informal arrangements
Fran Hall
Aug
27
No Comments
Last week, some of Team GFG hosted an extremely interesting meeting in central London, details of which will be shared in due course. Among our guests were a number of representatives from the Competition and Markets Authority, the body currently carrying out the market investigation into the funeral sector. They
Consistent and transparent
Fran Hall
Aug
14
1 comment
Did you see this article in Monday’s Times? ‘Restaurant style ratings to combat funeral rip-offs’, the headline screams. It’s behind a paywall, but we can precis it for you. Here’s a direct quote: “Funeral directors are to be given restaurant-style ratings as the industry battles accusations of over-charging and inconsistent standards. Classifications based on clarity of prices, conduct of funerals, vehicles and staff training, and mortuary and refrigeration facilities will be issued to thousands of funeral parlours based on inspections of their premises. Those given
Hospice Funerals – an update
Fran Hall
Aug
08
8 comments
Back in November 2017, a bright new star rose in the world of funerals. St. Margaret’s Hospice in Somerset joined forces in partnership with Howard Hodgson’s Low Cost Funerals to form Hospice Funerals LLP in what they described at the time as ‘one of the biggest developments in the
2019Jul
Called to account
Fran Hall
Jul
29
4 comments
In a blistering attack on the funeral industry in America this week, Michael Waters wrote in Washington Monthly: ‘The cost of death services has long exasperated Americans. In December 1856, a New York Times editorial argued that “nobody that is not comfortably off in this world’s goods can afford to die” because “to pass into the
2019Jun
The campaign is underway
Fran Hall
Jun
26
No Comments
This has popped up on social media by the main funeral directing trade association, the NAFD. (That’s the one that the big, powerful corporates all belong to, not the other one that represents independent funeral directors, for anyone unfamiliar with the world of funerals). Well, well, well. It was only
Be Better
Fran Hall
Jun
16
1 comment
The Good Funeral Guide is delighted to announce a day out with a difference. On Saturday September 21st, we will be hosting ‘Be Better’, a sparkling day featuring a whole stage full of inspirational speakers who are changing the world of funerals. And we have found the perfect venue, the
Unlikely bedfellows
Fran Hall
Jun
09
3 comments
The GFG and the Natural Death Centre charity have long enjoyed an unofficial mutual admiration – nothing ever written down, but a kindred fellowship of ideas and ideals. Founded in 1991 by the late Nicholas Albery and his wife Josefine Speyer, the charity was set up with three aims
2019Apr
Five Things
Fran Hall
Apr
17
No Comments
Our friends over at Life. Death. Whatever have created an extraordinary movement that is inspiring people around the world who follow them on social media. Five Things is a collection of five things that LDW collaborators want people to know about life, death and everything in between. Since the launch earlier this month,
