When the time comes to arrange the funeral of a loved one, you may well find yourself dealing with Dignity Caring Funeral Services, often referred to simply as Dignity. Along with Co-Operative Funeral Care, they are one of the UK’s two large nationwide companies that operate in this sector.
Dignity PLC is a FTSE 250 company that’s listed on the London Stock Exchange, meaning by law it has to file an annual report that provides a lot of information about their business (the reports can be viewed here: http://www.dignityfunerals.co.uk/corporate/).
The 2010 report shows that Dignity owns 567 funeral locations and 33 crematoria around the United Kingdom. The funeral locations are divided between a smaller number of funeral directors, because the company owns a number of local chains which have more than one branch.
Their business is divided into three main areas: conducting funeral services, operating crematoria and selling pre-paid funeral plans. Beyond this, though, Dignity aims to be a very responsible company, recognising the acute sensitivity of the industry in which it does business.
Their report includes the company principles, which are:
– “To help people through one of the most difficult times in their lives.”
– “To do this with compassion, respect, openness and care.”
– “To be the company that everyone knows they can trust in their time of need.”
Funeral services
Dignity’s largest area of business remains the traditional task of conducting funeral services, which accounts for 72% of the company’s revenues. In 2010 they organised 64,500 funerals across the UK, meaning they dealt with 11.5% of the country’s total deaths.
It’s important to remember that you may be dealing with a Dignity funeral director without you realising it, as they usually keep existing company names when smaller funeral directors become part of the group.
Crematoria
Dignity’s 33 crematoria make them the largest single operator of crematoria in Britain, as most of the remaining ones are operated by local councils. In 2010 they took care of 45,200 cremations across all their sites. Fees from operating crematoria accounted for 19% of total revenues.
Prepaid Funeral Plans
Dignity, in common with many smaller funeral directors, offers prepaid funeral plans for customers who want to take care of all the arrangements before they die. This side of the business accounted for 9% of revenues in 2010, and there are currently 238,000 holders of Dignity Funeral Plans which have not yet been carried out.
Dignity: a strong and reliable business
Perhaps there are two important things to emphasize about Dignity. First and foremost, it is a well-established and profitable business. In 2010 it generated a strong profit growth of 8%, with total underlying profits of £64 million, compared to £56.4 million the year before.
This is good for the shareholders, but judging by what customers say, Dignity is also a much respected company for what it does, and the way that it does it. All the customers who use a Dignity Funeral Service during the year are invited to fill in a customer satisfaction survey, and these have shown consistently positive results: 99% of customers said Dignity met or exceeded their expectations, and, possibly the most important indicator of all, 98% said they would recommend Dignity to a friend, based on their experiences with the company.
