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Arthur C Towner Ltd
Address: 2-4 Norman Road, St Leonards-on-Sea TN37 6NH - 19-20 Station Road, Bexhill-on-Sea TN40 1 RE - 19 Market Square, Battle TN33 0XB
Phone: St Leonards: 01424 436386 - Bexhill: 01424 733700 - Battle: 01424 775515 Email: info@towners.co.uk Web: www.towners.co.uk
Funeral Director/s: Edward Towner, Dip FD. Fifth generation. The business was started by his great-great grandfather in 1875. Masses of heritage here, but absolutely none of the nothing-to-learn attitude which besets many such family affairs. Those vocational impulses Edward experienced when he was a teenager all guided him away from the family business: “I used to swear this would be the last job I would ever do.” The necessity to earn a living drew him back, a decision he has never regretted for a millisecond. “It’s a real privilege to help bereaved people. We can make a difference.” He also pays tribute to his colleagues. “This is a rewarding and happy place to work. I said this would be the last job I’d ever do. Thirty-five years later, I’m sure it will be.” Away from work Edward enjoys time with his family and walking the dog. He’s a rugby aficionado (Harlequins, in case you wondered). He loves playing classical guitar and sailing but not, as he says, “at the same time."
Specific Gravity: Everything from immaculately traditional to as you like it. If you want something highly informal and colourful, “I would be happy to raid my extensive wardrobe of ghastly Hawaiian shirts!” Hearse and limousine are Mercedes. “We are not fixated on our vehicles like some funeral directors. Ours are smart and clean. If hybrid hearses were available we would buy them.” Both Edward and company director Colin Miller drive a Prius. They will, of course, use any sort of vehicle you specify.
What’s important? There’s a strong commitment here to approachability and transparency. Some funeral directors can be forbidding. Not here. At the funeral home the environment is friendly and reassuringly normal. “There are no drapes or artificial flowers. We do not stalk about dressed in black like a bunch of crows – we wear normal business suits, and only black for the funeral itself.” Pricing here is transparent. You check prices, item by item, on their excellent website. No packages here. Only buy what you want. See the full team on the website.
What’s different? “Our philosophy is to treat each funeral as the only funeral we are ever going to do.” That’s some commitment. They say something else very interesting about themselves, too: “We are very keen to provide a family with the funeral they need, not the one that’s easiest for us to provide.” We wish we heard that more often! The result is, in the words of a local funeral celebrant, that “there is a really special feel to Towner’s. You’ve got to go there to experience it. It’s a wonderful place.”
Services: Your call will be answered at St Leonards by Mrs Robbie Roberts or John Welsh; at Battle by Jane Walker; and at Bexhill by Penny Kirkham. That’s if one of the funeral directors doesn’t get to the phone first. Outside of office hours you will speak to either Edward, Colin, Duncan, Ian, Ewan or Robbie Roberts.Whichever funeral director you first meet will be there for you throughout. Yes to a home visit. Yes to you coming in and laying out and dressing the person who has died. Yes to same-sex person to lay out and dress the person who has died. Not pro-embalming unless there is a very good reason for it. Will gladly work with those who wish to care for their dead at home. Experienced in working with families from all ethnic and religious groups. Excellent secular celebrants on their books and, rare for a funeral director, will always liaise with the celebrant after you have met “just to make sure we all know what’s happening.” Full marks for this.
Remarks: Proud of its history, with much to be proud about, Towner’s is also forward looking and open to new ideas. You find here a rare combination of real care and high intelligence. As good as an independent family funeral director can be, so, one of the very best. Very, very nice people. A great team. The last family-owned funeral directors in your area.
There are 11 comments about Arthur C Towner Ltd
Jill Thompson said...
Wow I want to work with these people!!!
They sound everything I aspire to be when I pass my DipFd in March 2011
Forward thinking and being open to new ideas
truly in my opinion is the way of the future.
Mrs.P.I.Davies said...
Well I do work for A.C.Towner and I have done for the last 23 Years, and what a joy it is. Wonderful peolple all of them.
Lesley Arnold-Hopkins said...
I also have the pleasure of working with Towners.
Good folks to work with; their clients feel really cared for and you know that if something is requested, it will be done.
Well done on the recommendation, chaps.
Jonathan Groves said...
i worked for AC Towners about three years ago and then moved to East Anglia. They really are the best in the area and a real team to work with.
Suzy Bishop said...
I have worked with Towners on a profesional level and have experianced their wonderful service personally when we lost my sister.
I cannot reccomend them more highly. Thank you for all your care and attention it ment alot to all of us.
Stu Allen said...
I have been working for Towners for 4 years now and they are by far and away the best colleagues I could’ve hoped to work alongside when I embarked in this line of work. Working for any other firm in my opinion would be a step backwards.
sam clark said...
ewan and co made my family at total ease with my dads preparations for his funeral.
Thankyou so much for a smooth, worry free day …. my dad would of been so proud
Paul Morris said...
On behalf of my mother and myself I wish to express my thanks and appreciation for your company’s handling of my father’s Kenneth’s recent funeral.
Having never organised one before, from the moment I entered your website I felt I was entering a very professional organisation. The website was able to answer all my initial questions with ease. The moment we stepped into your office in St. Leonards we felt very well looked after. Throughout the whole sad process we were treated with utmost care, respect and professionalism. Thank you.
Rosalyn Freeman said...
Edward – I don’t think we could have asked for a more professional, flexible and forward looking firm to handle our Mum’s funeral. There was no cobbling together a CD or tape, no rushing around trying to find someone to design and then print a service sheet – you have all the most up-to-date equipment which made everything very easy – which at such a time is all that one could ask. Thank you for both your kindness and efficiency.
John Cook said...
We were fortunate that Towner’s recently handled the arrangements for my mother’s funeral. The funeral was carried out in a most professional and dignified way. Edward Towner’s friendliness, empathy, kindness, experience and attention to detail were very much appreciated by all the family and he and his team certainly made things much easier for us all at such a difficult time. Thank you
Mrs Fiona Jenner said...
Colin – Thank you so much for all your very kind attention in helping me arrange my mother’s funeral. Your calmness and support made a very sad time easier for me to deal with. From the day I stepped through your door and spoke to Mr Welsh, I just knew I had made the correct decision in entrusting Towners with my mother’s funeral. I believe you and your colleagues gave me far more than a service; it was your warmth and professionalism that eased my sense of panic. Everyone’s sympathetic understanding and respect ensured that I felt able to trust you with my mother. At moments of great sadness, everyone needs a friend to guide them through the emotional maze and I really felt that you and your colleagues were offering a friendship rather than a service. Nothing seemed too much trouble and the attention to detail was so professional. I was not, for one second, made to feel that any of my requests were impossible to meet and you succeeded in ensuring everything was as perfect as it could have been.
Finally, I cannot think of a better way of thanking you than to tell you that I will be fully recommending your Company to anyone who requires a thoroughly professional service.