On Tuesday 21st August my wife and I attended a funeral at Crewe Cemetery where you were the funeral directors, and I am writing to you on this subject.

The mourners were met by some smartly turned out staff members of your company and given attendance cards and a supply of very attractive ball point pens with which to write on the cards. The pens, although a small part of the overall manner in which the funeral was carried out, were of high quality compared with some funeral pens I have used in the past which resembled “betting shop” pens, and this set the tone of the overall presentation and decorum with which your bearers conducted themselves throughout the occasion.

All of the bearers were well turned out in matching trousers and jackets. They were well washed and dressed, with hair neatly arranged, and all were of a similar stature so that the coffin was kept on an “even keel” when handled. In the chapel a bere was used so that there was no shuffling about by the bearers, and the whole exercise of placing the coffin and removing it at the end of the service was very well executed.

The hearse was clean and gleaming and the service at the graveside was conducted with due decorum by your staff and the presiding minister.

I do not expect that you receive many compliments as to the manner in which your company, and the staff you employ, conduct yourselves, but you get all the moans when things are not according to mourners’ wishes.

I would like to draw your attention especially to the tall, well built employee with the small beard who was in attendance. He was obviously a longer term employee and his conduct to me and the other mourners was exemplary. He is a shining beacon for your company and should be recognised as such.

My thanks to all your staff, who, on that day, performed their duties well to the credit of each of them and the company that employs them!

Thank you so much for today the service was beautiful for Roy. You all have been so kind since since the moment we contacted you, I cannot thank you enough Sarah.

We would like to take the opportunity to thank you Sarah for the lovely send off you helped to provide for Dad today, it really could not have been any better. Could you also thank your colleagues who have been involved since you took Dad into your charge when he passed away.

After meeting Dave and Les at our home and then when Sarah came the next day – we knew we were in good and safe hands. You were all so very reassuring and caring. The funeral was arranged in such a respectful way – taking a huge amounts if pressure from our family. We are very grateful.

Tony, Sarah and all at Oxley’s. Thank you Tony for all your care and kindness in arranging Mum’s funeral. Also Sarah a big thank you for the lovely service which everyone commented on, and how well you summed up Mum’s life.

May I take this opportunity to thank you on behalf of us all at The Elms for such a lovely service you gave Doris today. Please pass on our thanks to Ben and his staff who treated Doris with the utmost respect from start to finish. I’m sure Doris would have been overwhelmed with the kind words and music choices.

To Ben, Just to say Thank you very much for Mums funeral. It was lovely and a very caring send off for her. Everything went very smoothly, and we all feel it was down to you and all the staff at Oxley’s. Thank you, Lavinia Jones.

Dear Ben,

We just wanted to say, ‘thank you so much’ for all your help and support given during this past few, very difficult weeks. From our first meeting you gave us comfort and the confidence we needed to assure that Alan’s funeral went without any hiccups so to say. We never thought that in a million years that we would be making funeral arrangements for our son, but Ben, you and your colleagues did an exceptional job and Alans funeral was perfect. For that, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts and please pass our thank you on to the rest of the Oxley’s staff. You all do a tremendous job and we are sure it’s quite difficult at times.

With our best wishes and kind regards,

Thank you once again.

Jane, Ray and all the Elston family.

Ben, we all would like to thank you for your kindness, thoughtfulness and understanding. Also, for the fantastic and sad CD of the church service. Nothing was ever too much trouble for you. A big thank you once again for looking after Celia and her family. From Carol, John and family.

To all the staff at Oxley’s, thank you for everything you did for my Dad and us as a family. You made a very difficult day run smoothly and were very kind and professional. Especially Ben who is a credit to the profession. Sue, Dave and family.

To all the staff at Oxley’s, thank you for the kindness and thoughtfulness you showed my family and myself at this very sad time on the loss of Celia. Thanks again, from Carol, John and family.

To Ben, thank you for making my day easier and for giving my mum the perfect day that she deserved.