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In early October, the NAFD held its Autumn General Meeting. Funeral directors and supplier firms from across the UK were welcomed by NAFD President David Barrington, who shared with them the key themes and events of the first half of his year in office. He also invited them to join him in Liverpool for NAFD Conference, which will take place from 1-3 May 2020 – outlining a weekend of lively debate, excellent speakers – and fantastic entertainment.

During the AGM, members heard about the significant work undertaken over the last six months by the NAFD team and member volunteers across a wide range of issues, including the latest steps in the implementation of the Burial and Cremation Act (Scotland), the extensive revision of the Manual of Funeral Directing and the NAFD’s work to respond to the Competition and Market Authority’s market investigation.

NAFD Chief Executive Jon Levett outlined the healthy financial position of the Association and the next steps in the ongoing governance reform programme and, addressing the members for the first time, Jonathan Rees (the new independent chair of the NAFD management committee) shared both his positive first impressions of the Association and his thoughts on the ongoing work to modernise governance of the NAFD. He urged members to inject ideas, get involved and influence debate, to help shape the future.

The Association was privileged to hear from a number of external speakers. Firstly, Joanne Kearsley – the Senior Coroner for Manchester North spoke movingly about the collaboration between organisations in the response to the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017. After lunch, the independent chair of the Funeral Service Consumer Standards Review (FSCSR), Lewis Shand Smith, gave an update on the work of the review – as well as his background as a champion of the consumer, through his work as Chief Ombudsman – and Sarah Jones from Full Circle Funerals shared the findings of her recent research report into the experiences that a range of bereaved people had in organising funerals. This session provided some really valuable insights and provoked significant debate.

Finally, there was a debate about the importance of NAFD membership to different types of members and how the Association can meet the diverse needs of member organisations going forward.

The NAFD is grateful to MuchLoved, Coastal Media, Dodge, Funeral Products, SEIB and, particularly, to headline sponsors Arranger and Funeral Guide, for their support of the Autumn General Meeting.