Hunnaball of Ipswich, Norwich Road

The Hunnaball Family Funeral Group

About:

Well known, and highly respected across Essex and Suffolk, the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group came from humble beginnings, when, in 1957, a 15-year-old boy left school and started work in a local undertakers. It was the only thing that the young Trevor Hunnaball had ever wanted to do, and he worked hard from the minute he started.

He learned his trade from inside out, starting as a trainee funeral director – cleaning cars on a daily basis, learning how to be a pallbearer and then how to conduct funerals. He immersed himself in his work, and devoted himself to doing it superbly.

Before the age of 30, Trevor was appointed managing director of the company, and just over a decade later, in 1983, he and his wife Melanie bought their first business together, Geo Paskell in Manningtree. Unbeknown to them at the time, this would be the start of one of the most highly respected family funeral businesses in the country. By 2026, the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group would have 13 branches across Essex and Suffolk (plus two further premises) and more than 70 staff, and tens of thousands of bereaved families would have received the exemplary care and support that the company prides itself on.

As well as Geo Paskell of Manningtree, there are now six branches under the Hunnaball name ( Hunnaball of Chelmsford, Hunnaball of Colchester, Hunnaball of Ipswich, Hunnaball of Stanway, Hunnaball of Sudbury, Hunnaball of Witham), a branch under the original name of J. K. May of West Mersea where the team is led by Polly Hunnaball’s husband Joe Garwood, and two branches under the name of Janet Davies, who retired in 2022 after 20 years with the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group (Janet C. Davies of Braintree and Janet C. Davies of Kelvedon). The most recent company to come under the wing of the group are the three branches of P. G. Oxley (in Walton-on-the-Naze, Frinton-on-Sea and Clacton-on-Sea), while the last two premises are the Gate House Chapel of Rest and the Hunnaball Training and Development Centre in Colchester.

Who’s who?

At its heart, this is a true family business. Trevor and Melanie’s children have joined them, working their way up from doing the most menial of tasks – cleaning and driving cars and assisting with all other duties in a similar way to Trevor -learning all aspects of the work, and they are now directors of the company. Husbands and wives have also come on board, and Trevor and Melanie’s granddaughter Emilia (Saul’s daughter) has joined the company, so the third generation is well established.

You can see the family here. Trevor is Chair of the Board, Melanie is the PR & Marketing Director, Saul is Operations Director and has stepped into Trevor’s shoes as the leading ambassador for the company. Chris is Finance Director, Polly is HR Director, Jennie is Memorial Manager, and Zena (Chris’s wife) is a senior funeral director. Behind the scenes, Matt took a different path for a while. He has a background in insurance and the Stock Market, and worked as a business consultant internationally. Matt was asked by Trevor and Melanie to help with some consultancy advice in 2024, and was invited to join the board in 2025. All the family strive to follow in Trevor and Melanie’s footsteps in upholding their ethos and family values as they take the company forward.

The family are joined on the board by the only non-family member, Mark Ingram, a good friend who joined the business in 2016 after a distinguished career in the Armed Services. Mark also worked his way up, from a part time casual driver bearer through various roles, and he is now Director of Training and Development and head of the branch network.

The family consider the people they work with as an extension of the Hunnaball family, in fact they refer their colleagues and staff as ‘the work family’. As Trevor says, ‘They carry the same culture of compassion and professionalism as Melanie and me. They care about our clients, staff, and the people who have died and come into our care, just as much as we do.’

You can see the people who you’ll find at each of the branches here. Usually, you will deal with just two people, one person who will look after the funeral arrangements and administration, and one person to support you and direct the funeral on the day.

Within the team, there are more than ten fully trained funeral conductors, with others going through training at the moment. Hunnaball’s have their own training centre with a designated trainer who delivers internal training for all staff, and colleagues are also encouraged to attain qualifications such as the National Association of Funeral Director Diploma (DipFD) and the London Association of Funeral Directors Certification courses (Cert FAA). Most of the family board members hold the DipFD and are members of the British Institute of Funeral Directors. Qualifications matter to them.

Specific Gravity?

It’s all about quality. The success of this funeral company is rooted in the calibre of the service that they provide, firstly under Trevor and Melanie’s forward thinking, innovative approach to traditional funeral directing, and latterly, as the family take this forward without losing any of the excellence that can only be found in a dedicated, independent business.

It takes immense skill to retain the same levels of service that a small, single premises funeral directors can offer when the company grows, but the careful decisions and thoughtful choices over the years, including bringing in skills to help strengthen procedures and processes to maintain standards, have ensured that the essence of the company has been maintained.

It is testament to the humility of Trevor and Melanie that they have nurtured and encouraged not just their own family, but their ‘work family’ over the years, meaning that what began when as a young couple they took on a very traditional 150 year old business in Wix in 1983 has now become one of the most esteemed family run companies in the UK.

As an example, after a shocking scandal was uncovered in Hull, government instructed local authorities across the UK to inspect funeral director premises. The Hunnaball Family Funeral Group was approached by the local authorities in their area who asked if their inspectors could come to see what the expected standards of care were for people who had died – their reputation for excellence meant that the inspections of all funeral businesses in the area were measured against the standards set by Hunnaball’s.

What’s Important?

Ultimately, continuing to offer the very best care both for bereaved people and for those who have died is at the heart of everything that is done here.

Standards matter immensely, and all of the branches are immaculately clean and well maintained, their staff are dressed in smart uniform, their vehicles are impeccable and their behind-the-scenes processes are robust and comprehensive. Everything that they do shows restraint, dignity and respect, the training that the staff has had is evident and welcome. On funerals, as the hearse arrives at the place of committal, Hunnaball’s continue to have staff ‘page’ alongside the hearse, an old tradition of respect for the person who has died that is seldom seen these days.

Alongside the public professionalism, the work that goes on behind the scenes is also extremely important. Support for staff is key, with work often involving supporting distressed or traumatised bereaved people, and the company takes this responsibility very seriously. As well as providing peer support to each other, several of the staff are trained in Mental Health awareness and can offer more in-depth support and signposting for their colleagues if it is needed. Recently, some of the team have undertaken a course specially tailored to supporting the needs of those working in the funeral and bereavement sector.

What’s Different?

Years of striving to be utterly excellent in their work has meant that not only are standards and processes impeccably high, but the tiniest details have been thought of. Every time a Hunnaball team attend a home to collect someone who has died, they have been trained to be completely professional. They are known for their warmth, confidence and compassion, and their ability to manage any situation. If the person has died in bed at home, the team will make the bed and leave a rose and a card – a small touch, but one that is so appreciated by families.

Similarly, every person who is in the care of Hunnaball’s will have a red rose placed with them when they are brought into the premises, and it will stay with them. The restricted access mortuary spaces are impeccable, with trays fully sanitised before and after a person is placed on them, and all prepared with a fresh sheet, a head rest and a rose. When looking after people in their care, robust procedures are in place and staff are only permitted in the mortuary / preparation area if there is a need for them to be there. Everyone in their care is always kept covered, and is checked daily by staff during the working week.

The company are always happy to show clients the space where their loved one will be looked after too, so don’t be afraid to ask.

Alongside the attention to detail, Hunnaball’s have been pioneers in various areas. Melanie was one of the first female funeral conductors in the country, and one of the first women to pass the Diploma in Funeral Directing. She has always been passionate about encouraging women to take a full and active role in the industry and has been very supportive of others joining her in what has been a traditionally male dominated industry.

In the 90’s, when it was still unusual to see women leading funerals, Melanie and Trevor already had a growing number of women working with them, and they introduced the concept of ‘Ladies in Hats’ as a brand for their branch in Ipswich when it opened in 1996. The local community welcomed the then novel concept warmly, and families often chose Hunnaball’s specifically because they wanted their funeral conducted by a woman.

Another area of innovation was the company’s involvement with natural burial – Trevor was at the forefront of the green burial movement with his involvement with Oakfield Wood, the first natural burial site in the East of England that opened in 1997.

More recently, in 2024 the company became a signatory to the Armed Services Covenant. By doing so, they have pledged as a business to recognise and understand the value that serving personnel, veterans and military families contribute to our country, community and society. The Hunnaball Family Funeral Group are currently proud holders of the Bronze Award under this scheme, and are working towards the Silver Award. You can read more about the company’s reasons for becoming a signatory here.

Connection with  local communities of all kinds, not just veterans, is considered essential, and the company is well known for its philanthropy and support for local charities and good causes. Their Community Funeral Directors spend time out and about in the communities they serve, and have developed strong relationships with the people they live and work amongst.

Services:

• Your first call will be answered by one of the funeral arrangers at the branch you are calling (see here for more information – click on ‘more details’ for the branch and you will see photos of the team based there). After hours, calls will go through to one of the directors or another senior member of the team
• Home visits: Happy to come to you at home if you’d prefer, or to meet elsewhere if you’d like.
• Family participation: Encouraged and supported. It is very common for families to choose to carry the coffin themselves, for example, and the staff will help ensure this goes smoothly. Similarly, clients wishing to create a theme for the funeral can be guided and supported to ensure that this is carried out professionally.
• Same sex person to wash and dress: If this is important to you, just ask and it can be facilitated.
• Embalming: This is always discussed with clients unless there is a religious or cultural reason not to. If embalming is chosen by the client, it will be carried out by the company’s fully trained embalmer, Stacy, after rigorous checks have taken place.
• Ethnic specialism: Hunnaball’s serve all the communities around them. With 13 branches across Essex and Suffolk, they are experienced in helping families from all backgrounds.
• Home arranged funerals: Very happy to offer as much guidance and support as needed to families who wish to do most of the preparation for the funeral themselves.
• Local celebrants: The company have a list of over 30 approved celebrants and five Humanists who they have interviewed, vetted and observed before including them. They will be able to suggest someone suitable from the list once they have understood what each client requires.
• Vehicles: The main fleet of vehicles are silver Mercedes, and Hunnaball’s are well known in the area for them. The three branches of P. G. Oxley are served by a black fleet as they have traditionally used.
• Website: Excellent website, all the information you will need can be easily found, and if you navigate to the ‘News’ section there are many very interesting blog posts that give really good insight into the company’s values and activities over the years. They also have excellent social media, with interesting and informative posts on Facebook and LinkedIn.
• Client support: As you would imagine from a company that holds itself to be the best it possibly can, they see their role as supporting clients throughout. The person who helped make the funeral arrangements will call the family the day after the funeral to make sure that everything has gone to plan and to see if there is anything else that they can assist with, and the company offer bereavement support, tea and friendship groups, and annual remembrance services.
• Money matters: A deposit is required before the funeral to cover all third-party costs, with the remainder invoiced afterwards. Prices can be found here.

Remarks

It has been quite the journey for the young boy whose passion for big, black shiny cars first drew him towards the idea of working at a funeral directors!

Now 83, (in 2026) Trevor’s career has witnessed seismic changes in the way we do funerals, from the firmly entrenched, male dominated world that he entered in 1957 where funerals were mostly held in church, with a choice of a light or dark coffin, to the vastly different, mostly secular and endless choice world that we have now, where women and men work as equals to offer families whatever they want to celebrate the life of their loved one.

Along the way, Trevor and Melanie’s family company has steadily grown, adapting to all the changes, learning and embracing innovation, sharing their knowledge and skills and always striving to be better. Every year, thousands of families across Essex and Suffolk choose the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group to care for their loved one, a testament to the quality of the service that this family business offers.

Trevor served as National President of the National Association of Funeral Directors from 1994 to 1995, and he also served on multiple committees over the years. In 2023 he was presented with a lifetime achievement in recognition of 65 years in the funeral business – an extraordinary lifetime in funerals, and an incredible legacy for future generations.

Everything about this lovely family-run business is quality – they told us that they aspire to be the gold standard in funeral directing, and from everything we have seen, we can confidently say that they have achieved it. We also know that they will continually keep working to be even better.

We are delighted to include the Hunnaball Family Funeral Group as one of our Recommended Funeral Directors.