Hello. Welcome to the latest episode of Lifting the Lid. My name is Andy Eeley. I'm a Senior Funeral Director with G Seller Independent Funeral Directors. And we've been serving bereaved families since 1910. I'm sure you're all well aware there's lots of different myths, misconceptions, different stories, taboos of what happens behind the scenes within the Funeral Profession. So we've decided to put this series of podcasts together to dispel some of those myths. Answer any questions and give you a bit of an insight into what actually does genuinely go on behind the scenes. So please do like, subscribe, share, send any emails, any questions, anything to liftingthelid@gseller.co.uk and we'll do our absolute utmost to answer them for you. It genuinely is Our Family Looking After Your Family. So I'm joined today by Joseph Barsby, Managing Director of G Seller. So Joseph, third generation of Funeral Directors. So tell me a bit about yourself, how did you come into it? So I've been around the business all my life. I even lined and fitted my first coffin when I was twelve years old. And I like to say that the gentleman that did that is still with us to this day, Kev. I left school, had a gap year and worked in the accounts at the business, which taught me a lot and it stood me in really good stead. And then I went to uni for a term that didn't last long. I decided I wanted to be in the real world and set my own business and that was in protein supplements. It taught me a lot very quickly, mainly the amount that my dad had worked, the intensity to which my dad had worked at, and the value of money. And I realised protein supplements wasn't really where my passion was. I wanted to make a difference and follow my dad's footsteps. So I came into the business full time when I was 19, Okay. and started off in the memorial department. Okay. So when you say, you know, you lined your first coffin at age twelve, I mean, what does that feel like? So from myself, from my perspective, I haven't been around funerals for my whole life. You clearly have been. So what does that feel like as a twelve year old? So I always came into the business with mum and dad when I was on school holidays. I was always asking them when we could go home and I sat in the office and I would know all the team and I was on their computers and asking lots of annoying questions to them and they were keeping me...Keeping me, entertained, exactly. So it was kind of a natural progression that in my school holidays my mum and dad wanted me to earn some pocket money that I helped out in the back of house, clean the cars, swept up. And then I asked and what did it feel like? It felt like a natural progression, like it's something that I wanted to do. I didn't have any involvement with looking after a deceased till a lot later on, but I was still in and around the environment of caring for people, although I wasn't doing it myself until I was a lot older. Yeah, absolutely. So you mentioned there, it sounds like you started very much, very hands on, as though even as a littl 'un, as it were, cleaning vehicles. So when you came in at age 19 to the memorial side of the business, how did you start? Agan, did you start hands on or did you start in a managerial position? What was your progression through? I very much started hands on, so I started in the workshop learning how to drill, polish, saw, fix memorials. Okay. I was taught how to put a template together. So how to lay out an inscription on a memorial, print it off on vinyl, put it on the memorial and sand blast, it all done by hand. And then I moved into the administration side and learned all of that. And the gentleman that was overseeing the memorial department at the time wanted to retire, so there was a natural progression for me to take up that mantle and oversee the memorials. And at that same time, I was with my girlfriend, which is now my wife. She lived 100 miles away in Leeds and she was an Events Manager, so she'd come down on random days that she had off Tuesday or Wednesday for argument's sake, and she'd work with me and she didn't mind getting her hands dirty either. So she fixed 200 kilogramme headstones with me and we kind of learnt together from a young age. Oh, great. It is very much that family business, isn't it? Everyone's involved. So you did mention a template there. Yeah, so I'm not hugely...this is for a subsequent episode of this podcast, but what is a template? A template is what's commonly called a proof, for example. So it shows you how the inscription and designs will be laid out on that memorial, whether it's a new memorial or whether you're adding someone else's name onto an existing memorial so a family can see and visualise that memorial before it's carved. Because once it's carved, there's no going back. Okay, so G Seller. So I myself come from a corporate background? Yeah, completely different background. I came into G Seller, was headhunted. You were. I can talk about how different G Seller is compared to other funeral homes, other locations. From your perspective, what is it? What is different? I think the continuity of care. So we're really, really passionate about our Funeral Directors sitting down with families, arranging their funeral and seeing it all the way through, being there on the day, and that strength of rapport that we build. We genuinely, genuinely care about the people who we are privileged to serve. And it isn't lip service. It runs through every fibre of our being and through every facet of the business and that's what kind of sets us apart as well as our facilities. We're really proud of our premises. We try and keep as much in house as possible and just offer the best standards we could possibly offer. And it's in our tagline. Our Family, Caring For Your Family. What would we want to receive if we were a family that had sadly lost a loved one and everything we provide, we've got to be happy that that would be okay for our family as well. Absolutely. So you mentioned everything in house there, so would that be, so we can offer, of course, memorial, the funeral service, everything with it. We have a service chapel as well. We do. We can actually have services there and catering, which is great facilities, to be honest with you. Future vision. So the funeral profession as a whole, it's changed a huge amount since I've been involved and no doubt yourself as well. I mean, where are we going? What future ideas have we got? So the future is very much going to be dictated by regulation. Regulation is coming into the profession. Pre-Paid Funeral Plans were regulated as of the 29 July 2022. The CMA have tenuously regulated us, insisting that we have price lists on show, on our website and in our foyers. So I think that's going to dictate where we can go. But my vision is very much to be as integrated as we possibly can. So we have as few subcontractors as possible to make sure that we can dictate the standards that we provide our families. Okay. To give the ultimate amount of flexibility and absolute control. Really absolute control and not control just so we can say we're in control. Control so we can make sure we can look that family in the eye and say we are providing you the best and we are happy that that'd be our loved one that sadly passed away and that's what we would have been happy to receive. Brilliant. What needs to change? So we mentioned there, yourself mentioned regulation. So as it stands at the moment, of course, the funeral profession is not regulated. Would you welcome that as a change? Absolutely welcome it. There's so many things that go on. So TV, advertising, what people say on TV versus what happens in reality are two very different entities where making sure that a family know where their loved one is at all times. If a family call us and ask us where their loved one is, within minutes we can say they are in the hospital, they are in our care, they are in transit in our care, they're going to be in our care by next time. Not ever working at our convenience. Not telling a family you can't do a funeral next Wednesday just because your fleeting doesn't allow for it. It's about being honest, transparent and providing the level of service that you would want your loved one to receive. Absolutely. Do you see yourself on the forefront of these changes? I'd like to think so. I'd like to think that we innovate and we think about that customer journey, what happens at every touch point and how can we improve it every single day? We're never good enough, we're always moving forward. Perfect. Always room to improve. Absolutely. So you personally, questions people ask you, the public, what's your most common question? How do I deal with tragedy on a day to day basis? My answer, it's a very hard one to answer. We are around tragedy every day, but tragedy is quite a subjective term. We are around upset and bereavement every day by definition of being a Funeral Director. So how do I deal with it? I deal with it in a way that I look at that loved one and that family and it kind of repeats what I've already said before. It runs through every fibre of everything we do. How would I want to be looked after myself? So every time I'm with a family, it reaffirms. What would I want to receive if I was either the deceased or it was my mum or dad that has suddenly passed away? Brilliant. Thank you. And you're still very much hands on with the funeral side. I do. I do get the privilege to look after families still. Yeah, absolutely. And I still want to carry on that, regardless of how old I get. Perfect. Thank you, Joseph. No problem. Great. I think that was just a bit of an insight there, I think. Future podcast episodes, you might want to delve into some of those points a little bit further, but thank you for watching. Please do like, subscribe, share any emails with liftingthelid@gseller.co.uk and we'll do our utmost to answer them. Thank you and see you next time.