Avoid Delays Before Funerals by Choosing an Independent Funeral Director

Kingfisher - Hunts Post Full Page - Jan-2016 - ARTWORKHere’s our latest full page advert, which appeared in The Hunts Post last week. Click on it to bring it up to full size.

Particularly at this time of year, we often hear about long delays between death and a funeral, and how funeral directors tell their clients that the crematorium is full.

In reality, by being flexible, we can almost always find a way of organising a funeral without a lengthy delay.

Large, corporate funeral directors are often conducting funerals for many different offices, so are restricted by the practicalities of vehicle movements and staff whereabouts. But instead of telling their clients this, they blame it on the crematorium.

Small, independent funeral directors are focussed on providing a service to their clients rather than maximising profits for their shareholders. Because of this, we can usually avoid delays with funerals.

We recommend and encourage potential clients to talk to several funeral directors before appointing one. Shopping around is quite acceptable, and the difference in service is sometimes unbelievable.

Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services are proud to be the only locally-owned, fully independent funeral directors in Huntingdon and St Neots. We are recommended locally on The Best of St Neots and nationally by The Natural Death Centre. Visit our Huntingdon website or our St Neots website, telephone us on (St Neots) 01480 471001 or (Huntingdon) 01480 412938, or call in and see us at Gate Lodge, Cemetery Road, St Neots PE19 2BX or 10-10A Princes Street, Huntingdon PE29 3PA (opposite the registrar).

Rise in Number of ‘Pauper’ Funerals

PH funeral graphMedia attention continues to focus on the rise in the number of ‘pauper’ funerals (ie those provided by the local council because families cannot afford them).

As prices of funerals soar, so the number of people facing financial difficulty to fund them rises.

As a company, we are committed to keeping the cost of funerals as low as possible. We do this by rejecting the corporate approach of upselling, and by focussing on the emotional benefit of a funeral.

“We don’t tell you what you need, we listen to what you want.”

Look out for our new, full page advert which is due to appear in The Hunts Post this week. It explains that funerals don’t have to be expensive, and encourages people to speak to several funeral directors before making their decision who to appoint.

We recently saved a client over £1500 simply because she shopped around.

Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services are proud to be the only locally-owned, fully independent funeral directors in Huntingdon and St Neots. We are recommended locally on The Best of St Neots and nationally by The Natural Death Centre. Visit our Huntingdon website or our St Neots website, telephone us on (St Neots) 01480 471001 or (Huntingdon) 01480 412938, or call in and see us at Gate Lodge, Cemetery Road, St Neots PE19 2BX or 10-10A Princes Street, Huntingdon PE29 3PA (opposite the registrar).

Helping Make Huntingdon Dementia-Friendly

VDT KIFD poster version 3In recent months the forecast increase of dementia has been highlighted in the media and recognised as a global health challenge. With a predicted 40% increase in the next 12 years there will be few of us whose lives are not affected directly or indirectly by dementia.

We have offered our premises in Huntingdon on Monday 16th November 2015 to ‘training2care’ to enable them to carry out the Virtual Dementia Tour. This training is the only scientifically proven method of giving people with a healthy brain an experience of what dementia might be like.

The Virtual Dementia Tour is a unique, interactive training experience that is proven to improve communication and care for professionals in the health and care industries, those caring for their loved ones or individuals just wanting to know more about dementia. Meeting someone with dementia can be a daunting experience, because sometimes we do not know how to deal with the situation.

This ‘tour’ will hopefully enable people to identify with and better understand the behaviours and needs of those affected by dementia.  There is a fee of £23.99 for each participant. If you would like more information about the tour or to book a place please call us on (01480) 412938.

Please Support our Easter Egg Appeal

Easter EggsKingfisher Funerals of St Neots and Huntingdon are collecting Easter Eggs to give to sick children this Easter. We will present all the eggs we collect to children on Holly Ward at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in the hope that we can bring smiles to some small faces at this celebratory time of year.

The Hunts Post carries a picture of Scott, Nicola and Philip clutching as many eggs as possible, on page 2 this week.

We have already been astounded by the generosity of people dropping Easter Eggs in to our offices, and we assure you that every gift, no matter how small, really will be gratefully received.

If you would like to donate an Easter Egg, please feel free to drop it in to either of our offices during normal opening hours.

Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services are proud to be the only locally-owned, fully independent funeral directors in Huntingdon and St Neots. We are recommended locally on The Best of St Neots and nationally by The Natural Death Centre. Visit our Huntingdon website or our St Neots website, telephone us on (St Neots) 01480 471001 or (Huntingdon) 01480 412938, or call in and see us at Gate Lodge, Cemetery Road, St Neots PE19 2BX or 10-10A Princes Street, Huntingdon PE29 3PA (opposite the registrar).

Business Vision is reason for LBA Award

There’s a large article about Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services winning the Local Business Accelerators Award in The Hunts Post today.

The feature highlights the reasons for being chosen as the winner, particularly focussing on Andrew’s desire for the business to stay small enough for him to be able to oversee every funeral from start to finish. The judges were also impressed with the innovative plans that the company has as it grows in the future.

It also mentions, of course, Roxie, our lovely labrador, who is shortly to start her training to become a bereavement dog within the business.

Gail Anderson, reporting for the paper said “Setting up a new funeral services business is a brave step. Companies rely on reputation so it can take years to establish a name for oneself. Though judging from the plethora of thank you cards on display in Andrew’s office, clearly he is working fast.”

Kingfisher Indepedent Funeral Services are keen to point out one factual inaccuracy in the article. The company is the only locally-owned, fully independent funeral service in St Neots, but not in Huntingdonshire. There are other independent funeral directors in Huntingdonshire.

Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services are proud to be the only locally-owned, fully independent funeral directors in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. We are recommended in The Good Funeral Guide 2011 and by The Natural Death Centre, and we are the only funeral directors to feature on The Best of St Neots. For more information or if you require any help, please telephone us on (01480) 471001

Kingfisher Funerals wins Regional LBA Award

Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services has been announced as the regional winner of the Local Business Accelerators award.

The national competition, which is open to all businesses between one and three years old, is backed by Prime Minister David Cameron and Dragon’s Den star Deborah Meeden.

The prize of three months free advertising in The Hunts Post is designed to promote the winning business in the local area. Business mentoring by local experts is also included.

The overall national winner, to be announced in the future, will benefit from personal mentoring from Deborah Meeden.

Andrew Hickson, who owns and manages Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services said “It’s absolutely wonderful to win a prize like this. I’m very, very proud that my young business has been judged worthy winner of the competition.”

“My business focusses entirely on providing a customer-orientated, personal service. I approach my profession from a non-commercial perspective because I can. As the only locally-owned, fully independent funeral director in St Neots, I am under no pressure from distant shareholders. This is becoming known in the St Neots area, and it is my privilege to be here for people when they require my services.”

Kingfisher Independent Funeral Services are proud to be the only locally-owned, fully independent funeral directors in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. We are recommended in The Good Funeral Guide 2011 and by The Natural Death Centre, and we are the only funeral directors to feature on The Best of St Neots. For more information or if you require any help, please telephone us on (01480) 471001