Westerleigh Group has received accolades at the Association of Green Funeral Directors’ Good Funeral Awards for two of its team members.
Alan Jose, group ambassador, received a lifetime achievement award after 50 years in the bereavement industry, and Lucy Derrick was named ‘Most Promising Newcomer to the Trade’.
Jose is the former president of the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities (FBCA), and continues to serve on the authorities’ executive committee.
In 1977, he became one of the youngest superintendents in the industry, appointed to the post of cemeteries and crematorium superintendent and registrar at Parndon Wood. Afterwards, he was appointed cemeteries and crematorium manager for Weymouth and Portland Council, where installed a heat recovery system.
Later, Jose became superintendent and registrar for the crematorium at Milton Keynes, and introduced hydraulic grave shoring units, replacing the traditional method of shoring graves with timbers and arco props.
Meanwhile, fellow award winner Lucy Derrick, is a memorial advisor at West Wiltshire Crematorium in Semington, who was also praised for her “modernising” abilities.
Debbie Smith, CEO of Westerleigh Group, said: “We are delighted Alan has been recognised for his talent and truly exceptional contribution to the funeral industry. No one could be more deserving of this lifetime achievement award.
“Lucy has only been with us since December but has already made her mark. She is always looking at ways we can improve the customer experience – from digitising the memorial maps of 10 acres of West Wiltshire, to offering to meet families at weekends or out of hours at a time that suits them.”
Jose added: “I have been privileged to serve the bereaved, who have always been at the heart of what I have strived to do over the course of my long and varied career within both the public and private sector, with the support of some exceptional colleagues from areas of the bereavement sector.”
Derrick said: “I was so honoured to have been put forward for the Good Funeral Awards. When they called out my name to say I had won, I could hardly believe it. I’m thrilled.”
