Funeral Planner of the Year set for re-launch
A major revamp has been announced ahead of next year’s Funeral Planner of the Year Awards. The change was confirmed following this month’s AGM weekend, which was yet again the biggest gathering of independent funeral directors in the UK.
As Golden Charter and Independents continue to grow – funeral plans are now sold across 18 regions and five business development territories – the number of awards has become difficult to accommodate in a single evening. The company is set to take advantage of the change by refreshing the awards with a new black tie format.
At the same time, attendance at the SAIF AGM has been booming in recent years, and it is becoming difficult to hold two such major events in a single weekend. With the AGM weekend moving around
the country every year, it has proven increasingly difficult to source a venue in each area that can accommodate Independents’ burgeoning needs.
Golden Charter’s Director of Funeral Director Sales, Malcolm Flanders, explained: “I am delighted to announce that from 2017, the Golden Charter Funeral Planner of the Year awards will be a stand-alone black tie event, with the first being held in September 2017.”
He added: “At the same time, we are taking the opportunity to streamline the awards, identify a central location which will make travel easier for the winners, and allow them to make a weekend of it if they so choose.
“In addition, we will change the timing to fit with our financial year, from April to March,
although for this year only the qualifying period will run from 1 January 2016 to 31 March 2017
– a 15 month period. Thereafter, we will revert to 12 months running from 1 April 2017 to 31 March.”
More specifics of how the awards will be refreshed will be announced by Golden Charter, as preparations continue in the lead up to the 2017 event.