JustTryingToHelp
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Coffins are rarely bought in bulk except by the huge chains, because of the space needed to store them. The price I quoted is a wholesale price that requires a minimum number of coffins to be ordered at once, and is the cheapest available to my knowledge (full disclosure - I'm an FD from elsewhere in the UK).
The £970 quoted is on the Legacy website as being their price for an unattended funeral - also known as a direct cremation. This set price package doesn't allow for a service or for any extras to be added, so they wont have gained income from chapel hire or catering.
Driver/Bearers are often employed on a casual basis or, as you suggest, self employed but they will still need to be paid and self employed bearers often charge more per hour than paying casuals an hourly rate, which would offset any savings on employers NI.
It is illegal for any funeral director in the UK to take payment for pre-paid plans. That part of the sector is heavily regulated and policed by the Financial Conduct Authority. The rules around a funeral director even discussing details of pre-paid plans are beyond draconian and I won't bore you to death with the ins and outs, but if Legacy were taking actual monetary payments for pre-paid plans in any way, shape or form then that will almost certainly form part of their criminal charges.
All excellent suggestions and I would welcome all of them with the exception of Gov't regulation going above and beyond a requirement to belong to either of the two main trade bodies. Both of these inspect without prior warning and expect their members to uphold rigorous standards. Many small firms belong to both.
My only opposition to Gov't regulation beyond insisting on trade association memberships is that they have a tendency to throw out the baby with the bathwater based on previous Gov't interventions but I'd still prefer a full and clumsily implemented licencing scheme to the status quo of anyone being able to set up as an FD with no checks whatsoever.
Thanks for feedback. Re the pre-payments for funeral plans, this was what was happening on the same site when it was run by Heavenly Services. Local people lost a lot of money:
Police update in Heavenly Services investigation
Officers had investigated whether any fraud had been committed but the only suspect was the business owner who had died
www.hulldailymail.co.uk
Heavenly Services customers 'unlikely' to get their money back
Insolvency firm Auker Rhodes says assets recovered would go to creditors
www.hulldailymail.co.uk
Then, the Bradford Heavenly Services site went under too. People also lost their plan money. Looks like it had a different director.
Bradford pensioners left devastated after funeral firm collapses
DEVASTATED pensioners have spoken of their distress after a funeral company they paid out thousands of pounds to went bust.
www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk
It also seems like Heavenly Services had a credit account with a coffin manufacturer although not sure how much they were owed . See "order of court to wind up" HEAVENLY SERVICES LTD filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK
See these article where Simon Woolston stated how he made money with low-cost funerals. Obviously Legacy had a slightly different model and prices.
Yorkshire Post: "Yorkshire funeral director 'aimed to cause controversy with billboard next to hospital"
HULL BUSINESSMAN TO OFFER CUT PRICE FUNERALS - PPH Commercial
Simon Woolston has leased 171 to 177 Hessle Road through PPH Commercial and has launched Funeral Support Services, which will provide a full funeral service for just £1700. “The cost of a funeral is normally £4,500, which I think is a rip off. From our £1700 charge we will still make £600...
pph-commercial.co.uk
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