Funeral firm widens reach

BRITISH funeral planner Avalon has begun tapping the market for expatriate Germans and Italians in a bid to diversify its revenue stream.

A large portion of Avalon’s business includes offering pre-planned funeral services to British clients living in the EU, and with uncertainty surrounding their status due to the forthcoming Brexit negotiations, chief executive Paul Wilson said Avalon was now looking to tap into a broader market of expatriates.

Mr Wilson said: “We’re actually in negotiations with other European countries, such as southern Irish people who are expats, Germans who are expats, and we’re also in negotiations in Italy as well at the moment.”

Group revenue, which accounts for sales across both the UK and European business, came in at £24.6million in the 12 months to June 30, 2016, up from £21.1million a year earlier.

Mr Wilson is now expecting further growth in 2017.

He said: “We had to modernise quite a few things at Avalon. We had to change how we operate as a business, so I think we saw a jump because of that (in 2016), but I definitely think we should be seeing between 15 per cent and 20 per cent at least of revenue growth within Avalon per annum.”

Avalon made headlines in recent years for arranging bespoke funerals – including a Huddersfield Town football club-themed ceremony and a special veterans’ plan – but the chief executive said he expected clients to return to basics.

“I think simple funerals will actually be on the increase,” he said.

“A lot of people may be moving away from the traditional big ceremony, and so on and so forth.

“As an industry, what we will have to do is look at the rising costs of funerals for people who are lower socio-demographic, who can’t afford it.”