Holmes & Family Ltd. (Ashford)

Who\’s who

Oliver Holmes Dip F A.A., Dip F.D. One of the sons of David Holmes (who founded the company and who attends 99% of funerals as a driver / bearer), Ollie is a former professional rugby player who has settled into the role of being in charge of the day to day running of the company.

We spent quite some time with Ollie, who is also the lead funeral conductor for the company. He is young (in his twenties) and had been planning a career in rugby coaching and teaching before finding himself drawn into the family business. And he is a natural.

Among the many thank you cards and testimonials from families, we saw the words “Thanks in particular to Oliver who from the moment we met him on the day of my Nan’s death, showed us that being young is no barrier to showing kindness, respect and compassion.” That just about sums him up.

Ollie is quiet, polite and extremely smart – we noticed particularly the gleaming black shoes worn by the Holmes men who were in the office when we visited despite their varying attire in the office. It is clear that David has passed down some good habits to his sons. David himself is a loquacious and likeable man who has been involved in funerals for almost forty years, with experience at Kenyon’s funeral directors in London before starting a joint funeral business with his late brother Andrew Holmes. David has long been a champion of family run funeral businesses, and somehow, as well as keeping Holmes and Family going, he manages to fit in a life outside of the company that includes running the Isle of Wight garlic festival and chairing a charity that helps people with disabilities into employment.

The main office is in Fleet, where David arrives fresh off of the Isle of Wight Ferry each day to oversee the running of the Holmes & Family. This is the busiest of the three branches, and is also the home of the company mortuary. The business has been in these premises in Fleet since 2008, although the appearance has changed radically as a result of a foray into the world of TV when the company was featured in an episode of Alex Polizzi’s ‘The Fixer’.

Part of the trade-off for hosting a film crew for weeks (and risking national humiliation as part of the admonishing style of the programme) was a re-branding of the business, and David gauged that this, together with raising the company profile locally, was a risk worth taking.

The stylish new grey colourway of the exterior and the smart signage is a testimony to the design skills of the re-branders, and the focus is now on the essential aspects of the business that makes it stand out from its competitors. An etched message in the glass on the door says ‘Family is not an important thing – it’s everything’, while the wording on the main window states simply ‘Dedicated & personal’. Inside, everything has been made less formal and more welcoming, with a sofa in the reception area and another in the office, along with higher upright chairs. The desk that had formerly been a barrier between the funeral arranger and clients is now to one side of the room, making conversations easier and much more relaxed. The furniture has been rearranged since the pandemic, ensuring that any visitors to the branch are able to maintain social distance from the staff.

The chapel of rest is behind the office; simply decorated in neutral colours it is a quiet room where people are welcome to spend plenty of time with the person who has died. Further back is another office and a staff area, with the mortuary at the rear.

Sarah Lee is the senior funeral arranger in the company, also based at Fleet, and she is another natural. Warm, genuinely kind and friendly, Sarah is affectionately referred to by David as their ‘pain in the ass arranger’ because ‘she often spends ridiculously long amounts of time with families’. Sarah is unperturbed by this soliloquy; she is completely at ease with the way she works with clients of Holmes & Family and is wholly comfortable with the role that she has had for three years now. In 2016 Sarah won ‘Funeral Arranger of the Year’ in the Good Funeral awards.

Formerly working in the care business and as a counsellor, and having long wanted to become involved with funerals, she found herself employed by David by sheer chance when she walked in to the office one day to ask about any vacancies after filling up her car in the fuel station next door. “I just love it,” she said. “And it has changed me. I can’t imagine myself ever doing anything else.”

David’s eye for good staff has worked well – he picks new employees for their personality and warmth, reckoning that either someone has got what it takes to work well in funerals or they haven’t – and if they have then everything else they need to know can be taught. He trains new staff slowly in the way he thinks things should be done and there is a strong sense of belonging, even with non-family members like Sarah and other members of staff.

Smaller and quieter than the Fleet branch, the Camberley branch in Sandhurst has the same smart grey outside and welcoming reception area inside where Michelle Carter sits at her desk – again, this is at an angle so that it doesn’t create any barriers, and the décor is fresh and light. There is a chapel of rest, which smelled beautiful, and a small room at the rear that families are able to use to meet with ministers or celebrants to plan the funeral if they need to.

The Aldershot branch was opened some years ago – much to the consternation and against the advice of Alex Polizzi, see clip here. Several years on and the Aldershot branch is thriving, despite Ms. Polizzi’s dire warnings. The funeral arranger here is Sharon Taylor, who previously worked in the company\’s trusted florist. The branch has recently had a new ceiling and flooring, and is light and airy and has the same Holmes ambience which instantly makes you feel welcome and at ease.

In the branch in Staines you will meet Maria Adams, who joined the company after working for a corporate funeral business and came highly recommended by her employers and colleagues, and in January 2019, the company opened a fifth branch in Farnborough, which is where you will find Dane Baker, a retired Baptist Minister and former funeral celebrant

The newest branch in Ashford is where you will be met by Graham Madge, who joined the family firm from a previous role working for a corporate funeral directors. His wife has been a friend of David\’s since teenage years, and recently, to the surprise of both, Sarah and Graham found that they were remotely connected family members.