Lobbying scandal strikes Funeralworld?
The lobbying scandal presently raging in Parliament has drawn the spotlight to all-party parliamentary groups — APPGs. Three dishonourable Labour peers were caught by undercover cameras (remember them?) telling reporters that an all-party parliamentary group could be set up as a lobbying vehicle for a fake South Korean solar energy company. The ignominious Patrick Mercer declared his willingness […]
ITV Exposure Responses FPL & NAFD
The following statement was read out after the Exposure programme 24.10.2012 ‘Last month in ‘The British Way of Death’ Exposure went under cover in the funeral industry at Funeral Partners Limited revealing racism and disrespect of bodies and the bereaved. FPL who own the branches in Slough and Tooting, where we’d been filming, have apologised, five people have been […]
Bring on the best
The US version of the NAFD is the NFDA. The NFDA has a Pursuit of Excellence Program. Here’s what they say about it: Pursuit of Excellence is the premiere recognition program for funeral service, setting standards of excellence that motivate funeral home staff, inspire innovation and sustain consumer confidence in the funeral profession. NFDA’s Pursuit […]
The eleventh commandment is ‘don’t get caught’
Posted by Richard Rawlinson What a time it’s been for the funeral industry on the tellybox. Apologies made and inquiries launched by Co-operative Funeralcare after Channel 4’s Dispatches: Undercover Undertakers. Ditto by Funeral Services Partnership-owned Gillman Funeral Service after ITV’s Exposure: The British Way of Death. These spy camera investigations of sneaky sales practices and disrespect […]
Trade association carrots and sticks
Posted by Richard Rawlinson The annual subscription renewal request has arrived in my in-tray for the media association to which my publishing company employer belongs. What do we get for the membership fee? Aside from a glitzy awards ceremony and occasional parties enabling us to ‘network’ with amicable rivals, the association aims to support by giving […]
Problem solved
When Co-operative Funeralcare reported itself to the NAFD in the aftermath of Channel 4’s Undercover Undertaker, it is doubtful whether the industry’s major trade body greeted the ploy with glee. A problem shared is a problem doubled. Was it really necessary for Funeralcare to hand themselves in? Inasmuch as the film revealed practices which fell far short […]
Publishing event of the year!
The Natural Death Handbook, Fifth Edition A thoroughly updated and revised edition of the Natural Death Centre‘s celebrated handbook. Now presented alongside a new collection of essays on death, dying and funeral practices by doctors, historians, authors, poets, theologians and artists including Richard Barnett, David Jay Brown, Dr Sheila Cassidy, Charles Cowling, Bill Drummond, Stephen Grasso, […]
University of death
Hardly anyone buying a funeral pauses to consider whether or not an undertaker is formally trained. Consumers are trusting people. They suppose that he or she is. Well, it ain’t necessarily so. Training for funeral directors is presently in something of a dark, even unstable, place. The foundation degree course at the University of Bath […]
Is it curtains for cardboard?
There are lies, damned lies and carbon footprint stats. Their most impressive feature is that they are so often counter-intuitive. Here’s an example: Researchers at Lincoln University in New Zealand…recently published a study challenging the premise that more food miles automatically mean greater fossil fuel consumption… [T]hey found that lamb raised on New Zealand’s clover-choked […]
Sods’ law
The funeral industry is right to be wary of those who claim to scrutinise it on behalf of consumers. After all, Jessica Mitford did much injury to the American funeral industry with an exposé which held it up to ridicule and focussed on price at the expense of value, and so was actually of very […]
