A Diamond Partnership

DIRECT CREMATION.
The fastest growing and most disruptive part of the UK Funeral Sector.
Your chance to FIGHT BACK.

Few SAIF Members want it. Many are fearful of it and have asked SAIF for help where they have lost funerals to Pure Cremation, Simplicity (Dignity) and other online agitators.

In 2021, Pure Cremation alone sold 65,000 prepaid direct cremation plans; approx 30% of the predicted UK market, indicating a burgeoning consumer appetite for this funeral trend.

The threat is no longer on the horizon; it’s here in your neighbourhood today and it is growing, driven by prime-time TV advertising and direct mailings into your community.

How do we know? SAIF Members have told us.

SAIF understands that 77% of families are flocking to online direct cremation providers because they don’t believe independent funeral directors offer this service.

So, SAIF seeks to confront the problem head on – albeit with a heavy heart – to give members a fighting chance of retaining their market share.

SAIF has partnered with Westerleigh Group and its Distinct Cremations brand to deliver a set of competitive wholesale direct cremation packages, allowing your business to set attractive retail prices – on your terms.

This partnership is available to every SAIF member in Great Britain regardless of where your business is located, with the current exception of Northern Ireland, where we are exploring opportunities for members.

This partnership provides REAL choice and REAL flexibility for members to compete in their communities and win customers who are being lured with messages like:

‘with a traditional cremation costing on average £3,885, you save £2,290’

and

a great alternative to all the fuss of a traditional funeral’.

This collaboration should give independent businesses, locked out of the direct funerals market, the ability to renew their market share through a set of unbeatable direct cremation packages and increase awareness in your community that this is a service you offer too.

But what about simple and traditional funerals?

Very good question. SAIF is not seeking to increase direct cremations at the expense of full-service funerals; we want to offer clients a full range of options.

SAIF and Westerleigh Group are working on research and marketing to help members educate consumers on direct cremation and promote the important aspects of remembrance and farewell at funerals.

SAIF wants customers to come to you so they better understand what ‘direct’ means, why it’s not always what they think and how a simple or traditional funeral maybe a better option for their needs. But if they choose direct cremation, they and their loved-one are looked after locally by a family business that cares, not an online provider that is potentially hundreds of miles away.

Through this partnership between SAIF, Westerleigh Group and Distinct Cremations, you’ll be empowered to continue offering market-leading funerals while demonstrating to the 77% of the public that independent funeral directors are the providers of choice for ALL funerals.

Act today to protect the future of your business:

SAIF Members

  1. Login to the Members’ area.
  2. Click here to download the full details, operational guidance and the list of participating Westerleigh Group crematoria.
  3. You’ll find an Engagement Form to return to SAIF Business Centre.
  4. Once the form is processed, you can begin using the Diamond Partnership arrangement.
  5. Check your email inbox for details of meetings and webinars on the Diamond Partnership.

Non SAIF Members

  1. Click here for details of applying for SAIF Membership.
  2. Return your completed form to SAIF Business Centre with all necessary documents and admin fee.
  3. SAIF Business Centre will email you the Diamond Partnership details and Engagement Form to complete and return.
  4. After initial checks, you will be eligible to use the Diamond Partnership arrangement before the full application process is completed.
  5. If your application is not accepted, access to the Diamond Partnership arrangement will be removed.

Find a SAIF Member