SAIF Golden Charter

Meet the eco pioneers

A quiet revolution is happening in Corsham, Wiltshire, just nine miles outside Bath. One family-run Independent is investing in the future and leading the way in offering truly green funerals.

Now the proud owners of a full Tesla fleet, making them the first funeral directors in the UK to do this, including the first-ever Tesla hearse to be made in the UK, and their own woodland burial ground, AJB Funerals can now offer environmentally sound options and inspirational services to families.

SAIFInsight spoke to director Aaron Bewley and his wife Amber, the company’s business manager, just a week after the first natural funeral on their own woodland burial ground and the roll-out of their full Tesla fleet.

“We love nature and really care for the environment,” says Amber. “So, it was so exciting to provide our first completely green service. Not only was it our first all-Tesla funeral, but it was also a natural burial in our woodland, Leafy Lane Natural Burial Woods, with a seagrass coffin, and our staff were even wearing uniforms made of recycled materials.”

The couple have been making environmental choices for many years and Amber puts the credit firmly at Aaron’s feet: “Aaron has changed the business, he’s inspiring everyone to be more bespoke, to tailor it more to the family, and to be more green.”

With a beautiful rural location and on the doorstep of affluent Bath, a noticeable decline in the uptake of traditional vehicles, and families’ increasing interest in natural burials, the time was right to transform the traditional business and spin it around to one that offers more contemporary and eco options too. The company invested in two electric Tesla ‘falcon wing’ limousines and purchased a nearby wood… all they needed now was an electric hearse. However, while the intention was there, technology was still playing catch-up.

“In theory, getting the electric hearse shouldn’t have been that difficult,” says Amber, “but it turned out to be a real mission.”

With only two or three companies making funeral cars, trying to convince one to make a hearse took a long time – the best part of four years.

“We originally looked at putting the Nissan LEAF in front of our Tesla limousines,” says Aaron, “but that just didn’t really make sense because of the limitations of its size and range – about 60 miles. There wasn’t a practical day’s work in that.”

So, the family contacted the makers of the Nissan LEAF hearse and asked them to look at converting a Tesla into a hearse. This project went on for more than 18 months trying to get the concept off the ground.

“They even bought a wrecked Tesla to chop it up and figure out how they were going to extend it,” explains Aaron. “But while you can just chop a standard car up and extend it to make a hearse, electric cars have a great big battery pack which provides many headaches.”

It was only when Aaron met the Coleman Milne team at the last National Funeral Exhibition in 2019, and found out they had acquired BINZ.E patents for converting a Tesla Model S into a hearse, that the project really got up and running.

The headaches continued when the prototype designs were agreed. Aaron and Amber were then faced with explaining to the dealer and insurers that they wanted to buy a Tesla car and then chop it up!

“It was a big risk,” says Aaron. “I was really tricky trying to get finance on it because we had to be honest and say look, we’re buying this car, but this is what’s going to happen.”

The Coleman Milne team was hugely helpful in that process, the couple say, giving lots of guarantees and absorbing lots of the risk. So, once the designs had been agreed, and proofs tweaked, the first-ever Tesla hearse went into production by mid 2020 and by early 2021 it was built. Then, of course, COVID was here and really messed things up.

“We couldn’t get it signed off because of the lockdowns that came with COVID, the DVLA had a new testing process to get it road legal and they were backlogged, and Tesla took a while to approve the warranty,” Aaron says. “All of those things rolled on and on and on and on – it took about two years.”

Restrictions allowing, Aaron made regular visits to the car, taking it for test drives. “It was like I was going to visit my child,” he laughs.

This allowed a few final edits to be made. “We took out a solid bulkhead behind the driver seat because we couldn’t see what was going on in the back – if the flowers on top of the coffin fell off, for example.”

A few beepers were also removed to avoid unwanted noise if the cars are tailgating at the crematorium.

Finally, after a year and a half, Aaron took delivery of the hearse in December. “It was my Christmas present!”

“We’re really delighted that it’s finally come through, it’s exciting to be at the forefront of change,” says Aaron. In fact, there are three Tesla hearses; Coleman Milne produced a demonstrator and two others, and are now in talks about producing more.

So why Tesla?

“We have wanted to change to electric vehicles for a while, it met all the requirements and the company has been very good at installing charging stations nationally,” says Aaron – “and buying one was as economical as buying a brand new Jaguar.”

Range is not an issue for the company either, as Aaron explains: “Our crematorium is only six or seven miles away so it’s all manageable and the Tesla has such huge batteries, so there’s no problem. We bought two different sizes – the small one does 200 miles and the big one does 350 miles before you have to charge it, so it’s never an issue.”

“We have the ability to charge at work, too,” adds Amber. “Part of the Government incentive is money towards installing a charger, and it really isn’t a complicated thing.

Because it’s a yard we have three-phase electrics, a relatively high voltage, so we can charge for about 50 miles in an hour – perfect if there’s an hour between funerals.”

The couple are now considering replacing their ambulance, although that’s a slight worry if it has to go to far-flung places. “We’re on board with the whole electric generation, though,” says Amber. “It just takes a bit more planning, that’s all, and it will only get easier.”

In terms of cost implications for the business, it’s a win-win situation. A full charge adds around £4 to their electricity bill and even after energy price hikes in electricity, that cost will still be under £10, so it’s considerably cheaper than gas consumption.

“We’re also not paying any car tax on it and the insurance is still quite reasonable,” adds Amber. “We get great tax incentives because of the eco credentials to it. As a business decision, it was a no-brainer.”

While the initial outlay may have been significant, Aaron sees it differently: “For the cost of one brand-new Jaguar or Mercedes limousine, you could almost buy two Tesla X Model cars and those cars can go in different directions, so it’s much better operational wise.”

The couple’s other project, Leafy Lane Natural Burial Woods, is an even more personal one.

In 2016, when ten acres of woods had come on for sale, gone to auction twice and hadn’t sold, the couple decided to take a look and it lit a fire in their hearts.

“It was totally neglected but with a bit of considerate maintenance it had the potential of being a thriving and beautiful woodland,” says Aaron. Trees are one of Aaron’s passions. He had studied horticulture at college, and – prior to funeral directing – had a career in landscape construction, specialising in transplanting semi-mature trees. After an extended break travelling, he trod the well-worn path of just working for his dad for a little bit and never left… it is now 23 years later!

“Aaron has come full circle, which is lovely,” says Amber. “He’s now combining the business with his passion for wildlife and trees.”

The woods offer a beautiful, tranquil site for burying individuals or ashes, planting memorial trees, and reflection. Everything is recorded just as in any council burial grounds, although Leafy Lane will be more artistic as it’s not set out in a grid form.

“The plan is to just let nature take its course. With a wildflower meadow, surrounded by hundreds of mature trees, people’s graves become a natural part of the woods,” Aaron explains. “A wildflower meadow made up of yarrow, daisy, bird’s foot trefoil, salad burnet and other wild flowers and grasses, and a hedgerow mixture have been planted recently. The goal is to go back to nature. Then, when it reaches the end of its commercial viability in several decades, we will return it to the community and people can continue enjoying it.”

Three public footpaths run through the woods, leading to playing fields and the local pub, so it’s very much part of the community, as Amber explains: “When we planted the first memorial tree a number of people walking by had asked us what we were doing and somebody said, ‘Oh, you know, we’ve got granddad still sitting on the shelf, why don’t we do the same thing?’ So, the more we’re out there, the more we can show people what a beautiful place it can be to remember a loved one.”

Getting to this point, however, was tricky, as Amber explains: “It was initially a bit of an uphill struggle to convince the people who have the powers to make this happen. The planning itself took over two years, we had to submit a mountain of information. We’re not the first natural burial ground, but to them we were.”

Perseverance has paid off though – a week before the couple spoke to SAIFInsight, the first burial in the woods had taken place.

“A lady had taken out a Golden Charter plan with us last year,” says Amber. “When she became aware of our woods, she specifically stated that she wanted to be buried there, and now we’re selling even more plans as people become aware of what we are offering.”

“Nothing we are doing is new to the industry,” adds Aaron, “but we are always looking to get on board with the next eco thing. I don’t know of any funeral directors who own natural burial sites – it’s just a unique way of doing it.”

And true to form, the vehicle Aaron uses to maintain the woods is electric too. “We’ve got a little electric buggy and the gear I use is mostly electric too, so we are being as eco-friendly as we can throughout the whole process.”

Find out more at Leafy Lane Woods and see the all-new Tesla hearse with Coleman Milne.