Jennifer Ashe and Son welcomes two new staff members

Jennifer Ashe and Son has announced the appointment of Natalia Broda as its first in-house finance manager and Mathew Alcock as its newest funeral director, as the company continues to expand its services across the West Midlands. It comes as the Willenhall-headquartered funeral provider has more than doubled its staff count in the last two years, going from a handful of staff to 22 employees across six funeral homes. With more than six years of experience in similar roles, Broda will focus on streamlining operations by managing budgets and developing financial strategies. She will support MD John Ashe in the day-to-day running of the business. Meanwhile, Alcock joins the Willenhall branch as a funeral director and will support bereaved families and co-ordinate funeral services. He joins the family-run company with over four years of experience, most recently working as a funeral director in Shropshire. Following its launch in 2016, Jennifer Ashe and Son arranged approximately 70 funerals a year in its one branch in Brownhills. With six branches across the West Midlands and Staffordshire in Willenhall, Brownhills, Hednesford, Lichfield, Oxley and Walsall, the funeral provider now carries out over 900 funerals a year. John Ashe, MD of Jennifer Ashe and Son, said: “It makes me incredibly proud to see how far we have come as a business and as a team in the last eight years. We’ve worked incredibly hard to establish ourselves as a trusted and reliable funeral director in the West Midlands, helping to support and show compassion to families in the area at a time of utmost need. “The expansion of our team and of our branch network, with the most recent opening of our Oxley branch in September, helps us to further accommodate those who need our services and has been welcomed very well locally.” The funeral provider has introduced a number of new facilities in its Willenhall headquarters, including the additional mortuary fridge space which has enabled the team to care for and store up to 40 deceased at any one time. The Willenhall branch has also seen the installation of a purpose-built bariatric chapel, as well as provides a washing facility for traditional Asian and Indian funeral ceremonies, in which it is custom for the families to dress and clean the deceased. Ashe added: “Being able to accommodate and cater for the diverse needs of the families that come to us is incredibly important. We want to ensure that everyone feels respected and supported, and by introducing these facilities to our Willenhall branch we are continuing to improve our ability to do this.”