Dignity Funeral Directors not afraid to make changes, returns to profitability

June 19, 2025/Finance/

Dignity Funeral Directors is now the name of a company once known as public company Dignity plc that was taken private in 2023.

The company is a funeral service provider based in the United Kingdom. They recently reported their 2024 financials to the Companies House in Great Britain and in that report, which is Dignity’s first full-year of operation since the company was taken private in a buyout, Dignity Funeral Directors reported a pre-tax profit of US $9.7 million. (Note: All financial numbers in this article will be reported in United States fund amounts).

Here is an article about the company’s 2024 financial results.

That profit number turns around a pre-tax loss during the 2023 public/private convert year of US$ 64.25 million and a pre-tax loss of over US$ 422 million in Dignity plc’s last full-year as a public company in 2022.

Here’s some other interesting information from the report:

Dignity’s workforce has decreased to 3,121 from the 3,493 that worked for the company prior to the take-private movement

The company had a 10.1% decline in funeral volumes. Their case volume for 2024 was 69,400

The company “shuttered” 90 branch locations because they failed to meet the company’s financial targets

Dignity Funeral Directors reported they managed to pay down over US$ 185 million of debt and bring in free cash of US$ 35.0 million with the sale of the properties no longer used.

Finally, Dignity Funeral Directors acquired end-of-life services firm Farewill in an acquisition announced at US$ 17.4 million.

You can read about the Farewill acquisition here.

Here is the website for Farewill.

Here is the website for Dignity Funeral Directors.

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take: All of this is interesting news. However, there are some points to be made when digesting this news that are interesting and thought provoking as we all look at our own businesses. . . . and these points are probably good lessons to be reminded about. . . . .

Some see problems, some see opportunities — There is no doubt that when the company was on its way to pre-tax losses of over US$ 442 million in 2022, there are those that wanted out. They probably saw problems and thought they would be insurmountable at worst and/or a lot of work to change the direction of at best.

However, the group that came together to buy the company and take it private, which included a former CEO, an insurance magnate, and private equity firms, saw opportunity. That makes a point that cannot be stressed enought — that different people can look at the same object and have much different perspectives.

Make sure that you look at both sides of the issues when contemplating buying or selling because even if you know what you want to do, it may make a difference on price if you understand all of the issues and possibilities.

Branches that are not profitable — Sometimes we hang on to locations that are not profitable just because we have always operated them. While there might be “strategic” reasons to do so, I would look at these branches very thoroughly to see if they really are an asset.

Many times, problem locations take more management effort than those locations that are fine-tuned, busy, and profitable. Think how your operation might be more successful if you didn’t have to relegate time to forever putting a fix in at the problem locations. You could probably use that time, and the cash lost at a problem location, to find a better location somewhere else or build up your profitable locations to become even more profitable.

It appears that Dignity has shuttered non-performing businesses and is using the cash generated to lower debt and make it a more reasonable and serviceable amount.

The “Nexus of Technology and Traditional” — Dignity Funeral Directors purchase of Farewill shows that they are willing to leverage some of their operation into what they must believe will be a growing opportunity for Death Care providers — Wills and Estates.

There are a lot of technology products already in the market that can make your business easier to operate at this time. Make sure that you take the time to know what they are and how they may help your business.

If you never take the time to learn about these products you will not be helped by them. . . . .and in a competitive world, you might find yourself at a disadvantage.

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