Funeral Services

On Tuesday this week, we advised colleagues within our Funeral Services Group that The Midcounties Co-operative Board had formally agreed with the Central England Co-operative Board to the proposed transfer of 50 of our 67 funeral homes along with 12 colleagues that offer Funeral support to the Central England funeral operations and that the remaining 17 homes would be marketed for sale. The agreement is subject to approval by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), a process which will take several weeks. We are also proposing to close our stone masonry operation as this does not form part of the transfer.

I understand that this news will probably have come as a shock to our colleagues working across our Funeral Services and may well be a cause for worry and uncertainty. The decision made by the two Boards came after much discussion and consideration over a long period of time. I worked hand in hand with my fellow CEO at Central England, Debbie Robinson, and our respective teams to work through the proposed arrangements. Our Boards had been very clear; any arrangements must be in the best interests of the members of both Societies and the vast majority of colleagues working within our funeral services operations. I believe this agreement fully meets that mandate and that it was in the interests of maintaining and further developing Co-operative funeral services, that we did not look to put the 50 homes and 2 vehicle logistic centres up for sale to the wider market.

The funeral services sector is facing into significant long-term challenges; peoples’ beliefs and requirements are changing with simplified and ‘direct to crematorium’ services increasing. New technologies and operating models are attracting lower cost discount operators to enter the market whilst regulatory intervention by the CMA, will lead to increased consumer protection and potentially price capping which could penalise the more traditional models based on localised service quality. The majority of our funeral homes are in need of upgrade and refurbishment just to stand still as well as a requirement for new technologies and equipment. This combination of market pressure, reduced profitability and a need for significant investment is why our Board wanted to look at alternative solutions. The Central England Society has a funeral operation twice our size and is a significant part of their overall revenue and contribution. They also own and operate their own crematorium. Our respective Boards concluded therefore that they are better placed to take the majority of our homes forwards and to meet the challenges ahead. This is similar to our conclusion in relation to the travel business where we took their 16 branches from them as they exited that sector last year. It means that Central England’s members will continue to enjoy services offered by our travel business and as a result of this agreement, our members will be accessing funeral services operated by them. Members and colleagues will continue to enjoy many of the benefits already in place and importantly, colleagues from funeral services will be invited to continue taking part in our regional communities as our two Societies work more closely for the good of our members, colleagues and wider communities.

The colleagues transferring to the Central Society under this proposed agreement will benefit from the expertise, training and development opportunities afforded by a larger co-operative operation. 90% of our colleagues working across our funeral home operations will be transferring. We are also working to secure new futures for the remaining 17 homes and consulting with the 17 colleagues working within our masonry operations.

I am sure my fellow colleagues understand that this has been a major decision for our Board to take but that it has been done so with the long-term interests of our Society at the heart. We are continuing to invest in growing our other businesses with 6 new food stores already open this year and 2 new nurseries under construction. We operate unique co-operative businesses in Travel, Childcare, Healthcare and Utilities; businesses key to our members in their day to day lives and developing in these areas whilst strengthening our food business is vitally important for our Society and the wider Co-operative movement.

I am extremely grateful to our colleagues working across our funeral services operations for their dedication and loyalty and they have my assurance that I will do all I can personally to support them through this transition and in helping them to make the best of the opportunities these changes will bring for the vast majority. I also know that Mark Adams supported by our HR team will help and support those colleagues not included within the Central England agreement in a way that is fully in keeping with our values as a co-operative Society.