A funeral directors that prides itself on innovation has a bright future as part of the Funeral Partners family of high-quality funeral businesses.
T & A Fyfe Funeral Directors in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, was founded by Thomas Fyfe in the 1890s as a carriage hire business and became a sole funeral directors in the 1950s as there were none in the local area.
Nine family members were company shareholders by the time of Thomas’ death. However, James Adamson, who married into the Fyfe family through Thomas’ daughter, Isobel, became owner following the retirement of his brother-in-law.
An ambitious man and master joiner, James converted a stable block previously owned by Thomas at Peacock Cross into a branch that housed Lanarkshire’s first dedicated service room in the 1960s.
James went on to champion the modernisation of funeral services in the post-war cultural boom with the help of his children. This included now-Funeral Administrator Lesley, who joined the family business in the 1980s at a time when females in the funeral profession were still uncommon.
James passed away in 2018 and handed down ownership to Lesley. With the help of her husband, Donald, she continued her father’s ethos of maintaining traditional values yet always looking to the future by carrying out a complete renovation of the historic Peacock Cross service room in 2017.
Pressures brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic saw Lesley and Donald struggle to recruit fresh talent to support their growing needs and the needs of the business as they considered its future. Upon learning about Funeral Partners’ investments in people with training and development programmes and apprenticeships – as well as marketing and technology, such as online quote builders, electric hearses and livestreaming equipment – the couple saw a way to put the business in safe hands for many years to come.
Lesley said: “My father always taught us to treat everyone in our care as a member of our own family, and this is the same feeling I get from Funeral Partners.
“Funeral Partners understands the need to plan for the future while maintaining tradition by letting funeral directors run things as usual with support, investment and guidance.”
Tara Cameron, Regional Development Director at Funeral Partners, said: “T & A Fyfe aligns perfectly with our core values and is a great addition to the Funeral Partners family.
“We welcome the funeral home to our growing Scottish region and look forward to working closely with Lesley and Donald as we serve the Hamilton community.”
Sam Kershaw, CEO of Funeral Partners, added: “The funeral industry has changed a lot over the past few years, and T & A Fyfe underpins how funeral directors can grow and adapt for the future while preserving what makes them great.”
“I’m pleased see this family-run brand as part of the Funeral Partners network and I look forward to seeing it continue to flourish.”
