Five questions for a funeral director 

Coping with loss is hard enough. But if you’re arranging a funeral, we know you’ll likely want to make informed decisions about which funeral director to appoint. So where do you start? Our many years experience of supporting local families helps us anticipate what you may be thinking. We recommend you ask five key questions of whichever team you are considering for your funeral, someone else’s you have to arrange or for a future plan.

This is a common concern for anyone arranging a funeral, both now or for a future date. Put simply, funerals can be arranged for most budgets, big or small.  Our first goal is to find out what’s most important to you and what expectations you – or your loved ones – have. This will shape your choices.  We help you balance what’s essential with what isn’t.  Honouring someone who’s died means respecting wishes which can be achieved in a variety of ways that respects your budget.

Our charges are published on our website under Costs. We also have guides on what a funeral costs, enabling you to understand what’s covered, essential and what’s not. Following an arranging or planning meeting, a funeral director will be able to estimate the actual cost based on your choices.

This varies considerably between different funeral directors.  To help families, we’ve summarised what’s included in our fee – and we also publish our prices in the standard CMA format for ease of comparison. Our fee covers:

• Transporting the deceased to the funeral home
• Out of hours service 24/7, 365 days a year
• Coming to your home or meeting you in branch to make arrangements – there’s no limit to how many meetings this takes
• Continuity of funeral team throughout (as much as possible)
• Assisting with the paperwork, including cemetery or crematoria forms
• Collecting clothing, jewellery, personal belongings or paperwork from your home
• Notifying people through newspaper notices or online obituaries
• Hygienic treatment known as embalming
• Provide coffin, urns, caskets, scatter tubes and any other keepsakes
• Viewings in branch which are unlimited, one to one or large groups, at home or other location
• Co-ordination with celebrants and other key participants, including all bookings
• Organise flowers
• Arrange music choices
• Prepare printed and digital Orders of Service
• Offer webcasting and/or recording of funeral
• Service space for a celebration of life
• Transportation in a hearse or other choice to the funeral
• Limousines for family and other large groups
• Option of late or early funerals.
• Additional staff on attendance if required
• Bereavement aftercare and free resources throughout

No two funeral directors are the same. We include what most people expect a funeral director to offer – and more as standard. But that’s not the case for everyone. It’s very important to find out what is included to avoid any surprise or unexpected costs.

William Purves has been in business for five generations having started serving families in 1888.  Expansion over the last 20 plus years means we’ve acquired businesses with different identities, many of which traded under their legacy name.  Today, we operate across 27 branches throughout Scotland and NE England, all branded as William Purves and some with the legacy identity listed as an incorporated name.

We’re still family owned and run.  People make our company a family. Funeral directors, branch administrators and funeral operatives are from the local communities we serve. Behind the scenes are embalmers and stonemasons, all specialists in these fields. And as a whole company, we’re supported by IT, HR, finance and marketing professionals in our Edinburgh based head office.

Whilst we have been funeral directors for a long time, and have a large network of facilities,  we’re judged by our reputation, and that’s defined by our clients. That’s why we’re privileged to have so many families return to us at their time of need, and be the source of referral by stakeholders who work closely with us.

There are various layers to this answer.

First, as we sell prepaid funeral plans, we are regulated by the CMA (Competition and Markets Authority).  This ensures our prices are transparent, following a set format that make comparisons easy and clear. But we are happy to go further and set out what these numbers mean in the context of a funeral publishing guides on how much a funeral should cost and how to access funding.

Second, there’s funeral sector regulation overall.  In Scotland, the funeral sector is regulated adhering to the Funeral Director Code of Practice overseen by a National Inspectorate.  England is currently not regulated but there are calls for this to be addressed, acknowledging the complexity of uniting the patchwork of local and regional legislation.

Third, we are members of the two main UK trade associations: NAFD (National Association of Funeral Directors) and SAIF (The National Society Of Allied And Independent Funeral Directors). Currently, we have leadership positions in both as we believe it’s important to lead from the front, shaping the sector with experience and a commitment to the highest standards of care.

Finally, there’s the people providing the service we’re proud to offer as individuals.

Our funeral directors are either fully qualified, or on a pathway to achieve professional status. Training is an important cornerstone for our business to ensure each member of staff is performing to the highest possible standard with options to grow and improve throughout the company.

We are members of the BIE (British Institute of Embalmbers), NAMM (National Association of Memorial Masons), and hold various certified accreditations for cybersecurity (Cyber Essentials) and with the professionals in HR, Marketing, IT and Finance each holding relevant qualifications in their fields.

We love when we’re asked this. There’s no formula or one-size-fits-all despite what some funeral directors or cremation providers offer. We believe in making each event fit the needs of the family arranging while respecting wishes of the person who’s died. This is best achieved if there is a plan to follow such as one of our free Plans of Wishes. But even if there isn’t, our team draw on years of experience listening and hearing to ensure that each event is a true reflection and celebration of the life lived.

Our door is always open and we’re here to explore funeral possibilities with you to ensure each farewell is personal, memorable and unique