SAIF Golden Charter

Suzanne Grahame: Exciting opportunities, changing times

Throughout her career, Suzanne Grahame has gained great satisfaction from helping organisations develop and grow. For the past 10 years she has been at the helm of Edinburgh-based law firm HBJ Gateley and recently led the successful merger with England-based Addleshaw Goddard, creating a UK-wide business four times the size of the original company.

That’s why she is excited about taking up the role of Chief Executive Officer of Golden Charter – she sees the special relationship between the company, its shareholders and the independent funeral director sector as a whole as a strong foundation for developing the pre-sales market further.

She believes the market is poised for significant change, as she explained: “I believe that society’s attitude to funerals is changing and that Golden Charter has a role, through supporting independent funeral directors, to take advantage of this new development.

“There is a growing willingness to talk about the future and discuss plans for death. From my observations, I see more people taking a different approach to death, making it more about the event and celebrating a loved one’s life beyond the ceremony. People are increasingly influenced by what celebrities do and this is quickly disseminated by social media, so people want more choice when it comes to a funeral. It’s not everywhere yet but, it’s a growing trend – just look how weddings have changed over recent decades.”

She believes this growing demand for choice will also create opportunities in the market and greater competition. It might be competition in the sense of other funeral providers, but it may be broader in terms of the regulation and potential constraints, so there are also challenges to be met.

“There are lots of things happening in the market so it’s all about understanding the development and bringing all the parts of the jigsaw together.”

Suzanne believes that Golden Charter has an important role in supporting independent funeral directors to help them be prepared for this changing marketplace.

She said: “I think this is something that we can definitely help with, but we have to be mindful that independent funeral directors will be at different levels of market demand and adaptability for change.

“I think it’s our role to open the door to a new way of thinking which will allow them to change comfortably with the market as it moves. We need to provide them with a framework to do that at a time and at a pace that’s right for them, their market share and their own business.

“Some independent funeral directors will be quite ready for that now while for others that may be some way down the line for them.

“It’s important we are mindful of these differences within our stakeholders’ local markets.”

Suzanne understands the demands of working for a multi-stakeholder organisation, from her time as Group Finance Director with a listed company involved in livestock auctions.

She explained: “The vast majority of our shareholders, by number, were farmers, who ran their own farming businesses, and supplied sheep and cattle for our auctions, which we sold on their behalf.

“It’s a very similar business model, as our customers are in the supply chain but also owners of the company.

“And, like independent funeral directors, we had within our agricultural shareholders a great range of businesses from very large businesses right down to smaller sizes, and including fourth or fifth generation family farms.

“That meant there were a lot of different demands – the larger providers looking for different things from us as a company than the smaller ones, in terms of guidance and access to different resources.

“We had to listen to all types of businesses to understand their own space in the market – so there are great similarities with Golden Charter.”

Growing regulation may be a worry for many in the sector, but for Suzanne it’s par for the course. As head of a law firm that has financial products, she has been comfortable working in a regulated environment governed by the Law Society of Scotland, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

She said: “It’s a highly regulated environment that requires a great deal of compliance to make sure the business is working to meet the highest standards on every occasion. In addition to external audits, all of our people are trained, monitored and assessed against those high standards on a very regular basis.

“For me, it’s about behaving appropriately, so whether it’s a voluntary or regulated environment, it’s all about acting to the highest level of integrity.”

And Suzanne believes it is integrity that gives independent funeral directors their “unique selling point” (USP) in their local market.

She said: “I think their great strength is the personal relationships that they create with their local communities, which also enhances their reputation. They will be judged on the quality and experience they give their customers: is a funeral service seen as a mechanical or impersonal process, or does it feel like something that it sensitive, personal and appropriately pitched to meet the desires of the family?

“Independents are far better placed and motivated to provide a personalised service than a corporate – they can choose how they interact with their customers, which gives them a significant market advantage over the competition.

“Equally, the strength of Golden Charter and our shareholders is the fact that we have independent funeral directors at the heart of everything we do.

“We need to harness that competitive advantage and make sure we support them in their own marketplace to take on the changes that are coming in this sector – to help make the most compelling offer to the consumer. So I see it as a market with a lot of potential, and also with a lot of change on the horizon. The use of social media and growing market awareness has created a willingness for people to talk about funerals and to think about planning this part of their life.

“I think we are at a significant point of change in the marketplace – and that’s exciting.”