Focus on business: Green Endings
Green Endings, an independent funeral directors, has just opened at 42 Golborne Road. Founded in 2000, the company already has branches in Tufnell Park and Twickenham and it aims to offer a wider choice of funeral arrangements than is generally available from the larger corporate-owned funeral directors.Gerard Crutchley (pictured) is the funeral director who runs the Golborne Road branch. He formerly worked for John Nodes, but was keen to move on after Nodes was bought out by one of the large national companies, Funeral Services Partnership, in 2013. Nodes was founded in Ladbroke Grove in the 19th century and was a family business for six generations until the sale.
Gerard’s family has been in North Kensington since the 1920s, and he still lives in the home his grandparents originally bought. After a spell at the BBC followed by some time bringing up his children, Gerard went to work at Nodes, starting as a pall bearer. He was then invited to join the small Green Endings team in 2015.
“Green Endings bought this property on Golborne Road in June last year,” explains Gerard, “but I had to fill in for someone at our Tufnell Park branch for a while, plus the property needed quite a lot of work to bring it up to scratch.
“I’m really pleased to be working for an independent firm. We are committed to offering more choice to the bereaved when they arrange a funeral. We can offer a stripped down service which will be cheaper than many other funeral directors and we can also offer alternative types of funeral. The key is that we want to allow people to make personal choices and hopefully have a more positive experience at what is always a sad and stressful time.”
“We’re keen to use environmentally friendly practices where possible. For example, there’s no necessity to have a string of large vehicles for a funeral. Having said that, we always respect the client’s wishes, but we will help people to understand alternative ways of doing things. With the large national funeral directors there tends to be much less scope for personalisation and choice.
“Here on Golborne Road we do not have a mortuary although we do have a room where families can say goodbye to their loved one. The premises is mostly used as a place for families to come and discuss funeral arrangements.
“Being a funeral director can be stressful,” continues Gerard. “You’re dealing with people who are in a highly emotional state. A lot of my job is to reassure people and to support them in making choices about funeral arrangements. The satisfaction of the job comes when you get people’s heartfelt thanks for helping them through a difficult time.”
Green Endings
42 Golborne Road, W10 5PR
020 8969 1170
gerard@greenendings.co.uk
greenendings.co.uk