News & Views

Next week SAIF will welcome in its new President Jim Auld, of James Auld Funeral Directors in Helensburgh, near Glasgow. At the same time, we thank outgoing President Alun Tucker for his service and commitment in 2018/19. 👏🙌👏

Funeral directors, is your website mobile friendly? If not, it needs to be.

If you're a funeral director thinking of developing your team's skills, look to the @ifdcollege and British Institute of Funeral Directors, who have joined forces to offer a comprehensive set of accredited qualifications.

If you're in need of a funeral director, be sure to contact your local SAIF member. Independent funeral directors are often considerably better value than large chains.

Choose a SAIF member for: professionalism, family-run service, industry-leading standards, a clear choice of options, personal and friendly, sensitivity and flexibility, competitive and transparent pricing.

Clarke Carlisle will be keynote speaker at SAIF's AGM Weekend. He'll talk about his mental health challenges and the Clarke Carlisle Foundation for Dual Diagnosis Foundation. https://bit.ly/2H1XsQ2

Now less than a month until our AGM. This year's event is going to cover lots of important topics affecting independent funeral directors. Have you booked yet?

The Competition and Markets Authority is seeking views as to whether any funeral market investigation should cover funerals funded by pre-paid funeral plans. We think it should, as we said on page 4 in our response to the interim report. We'll be reiterating our support for the inclusion of funeral plan redemption in any investigation and would encourage others to make their views known too. Further details can be found by clicking the link below.

There's little more than a month to go until Medical Examiners are introduced in the NHS. Independent funeral directors can find out more about the new system here -

The cost of a death certificate will almost triple this weekend. Please do share this story to ensure your networks and their families are aware of the rise.

Whilst many of us will tonight enjoy spending time with someone special, we send our thoughts to those grieving the loss of a loved one or experiencing loneliness caused by bereavement on #ValentinesDay

It's #TimetoTalk Day. As funeral directors, it might be an incredibly busy time for our profession at the moment but it's really important to keep an eye on how colleagues are and support each other.

We're fully behind this Thursday's #TimetoTalk all about mental health problems day. It's one of the reasons we launched SAIF Support, with Professional Help, for all our 907 member firms' staff.

Only two months to go until SAIF's AGM and planning is well underway. This year's event will cover hot topics including regulation, online pricing and bereavement counselling. Book your tickets today.

The cost of a death certificate will increase to £11 from 16th February. https://bit.ly/2R7YGtD

Funeral directors who display their prices online have a clear competitive advantage over those who don't. In the digital age, consumers expect to compare costs in the comfort of their home.

It might be the busiest time of year for funeral directors, but many still give up their time willingly to help with the running of SAIF - all for the betterment of the profession. Thank you.

SAIF's AGM takes place on March 29-31. Have you booked your place yet?

We're encouraging all our funeral director members with websites to place their prices online, ahead of a discussion this spring on incorporating online pricing into the SAIF Code of Practice.

SAIF Members don't forget: webinar tomorrow at 1pm https://bit.ly/2Hatzha