Great Britain’s Pure Cremation, quite possibly the most successful start-up in the history of Death Care, continues to grow their direct cremation business.  And, that growth in itself seems to cause some problems.

This recent article from BBC News in Great Britain tells of Pure Cremation’s attempt to open a 700-body volume refrigerated storage facility at York Business Park in a village near York.  According to the BBC News article, the facility “which would operate all day, every day, would take bodies collected from residences, care homes and hospices for storage before they are sent for cremation.”

Up to 35 employees would work in shifts at the location and representatives of Pure Cremation have said the facility would cause negligible levels of traffic and noise issues and the scale of the current building, formerly occupied by a mobile company switching center, would remain unchanged.

Again, according to the BBC News article, four objections have been lodged against the application for the business.  In addition to some saying the facility would “harm the local economy”, the article states that funeral directors have lodged dissenting views “claiming that bodies would be stored in an undignified and industrial facility.”

A representative of Pure Cremation’s application countered that argument by this statement, “Pure Cremation occupy a similar premises on a business park in Knutsford, Cheshire – no complaints or adverse impact is reported from that site.”

Tom Anderson
Funeral Director Daily

Funeral Director Daily take:  I’ve watched the growth of Pure Cremation almost from its inception in 2015 when the husband and wife team of Bryan and Catherine Powell had the foresight to see the advent of direct cremation with no services in Great Britain starting to grow.  The couple moved from a traditional funeral home operation to an  “unattended” (by the family) direct cremation operation only and saw the business grow virtually from day one.

I’m of the opinion widespread television advertising — it is believed that Pure Cremation was the largest buyer of advertising on British television networks during the pandemic — and the pandemic itself greatly influenced the growth of Pure Cremation.  That attracted private equity and it has been reported by Sky News that in 2023 when private equity company Epiris purchased the company from the Powells it was for a price of upwards of $500 million U.S. dollars.

The company has continued to grow under new ownership, not only with Direct Cremations but with their preneed plans as well.  It was recently estimated that the British Death Care market may reach a 50% “Direct Cremation with No Services” level by 2035 which will continue to fuel the expansion of the Pure Cremation brand.

Related Article —  Here is a February 2025 Funeral Director Daily article reporting on the sale of a percentage of the business by Epiris to another private equity partner, Centerbridge Partners.

More news from the world of Death Care:

• Cecil funeral director graduates national leadership program.  The Observer-Reporter (PA)
• A Connecticut cemetery leased unused land for 7,000 solar panels, but the ground beneath them could become habitat for bees and pollinators.  The Times of India
• 15 unclaimed veterans receive full military honors in Pennsylvania.  Military.com
• The Best of Both Worlds’:  Matthew Lymn Rose on building a funeral business for the future.  The Business Desk (Great Britain)

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