The managing director of one of the UK’s largest independent funeral directors, A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, is celebrating 10 years at the helm of the fifth generation East Midlands family business.

Matthew Lymn Rose took on the role in late 2014, stepping in to the position of his father, now company chairman, Nigel Lymn Rose. Since his succession, the award-winning funeral directors has continued to grow and evolve, offering more choice than ever to the communities it serves – all while maintaining its core value as a family business providing the highest quality of service.

Matthew joined A.W. Lymn 20 years ago and established himself as a funeral director for 10 years. Speaking about stepping into the role of managing director, he said: “I’d always hoped that one day I would take on the running of our family business, but the position came to me sooner than I had anticipated it would, initially as the interim position as my father overcame a period of unexpected illness.”

When Nigel returned to work six months later, he made Matthew’s role permanent following a successful tenure. Over the last decade, Matthew has overseen major changes and developments of the business, including: A.W. Lymn’s expansion into the West Midlands with the purchase of a Hammerwich Crematorium & Cemetery in Lichfield; plans to develop its own cemetery and ancient barrows site in Calverton in Nottinghamshire; the acquisition and expansion of Nottinghamshire funeral directors M.A. Mills and the complete overhaul of the company’s fleet, modernising to Rolls Royce Phantom VIIs and investing in electric hearses, limousines and ambulances.

Matthew was also at the helm throughout the pandemic, when the business was a frontline service critically relied upon to maintain safe practices and its high standards of care, health and safety and customer service despite an unprecedented number of deaths.

Internally, Matthew has also focused on evolving the business’s company procedures as it has grown to 25 funeral homes and more than 130 employees. This ensures that all staff have the best experience working for A.W. Lymn – an effort which is reflected in the high number of long-serving staff members at the family funeral directors.

With a big year ahead for the business, Matthew hopes he can continue to build on the successes of the last decade, continuing to drive A.W. Lymn forward amid an ever-changing funeral industry, while maintaining its commitment to the people it serves.

He added: “We have always been here to provide the highest quality of service to the bereaved, and re-invest back into improving our business, standards and facilities. This will always remain paramount to us.

“Looking forward, I hope that we’ll continue to expand geographically to keep offering our traditional, good value, service to more people. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved as a business in the last 10 years, thanks to the continued support and guidance of Nigel and Company Director Jackie Lymn Rose, as well as the cooperation of all the staff at A.W. Lymn and it is a great privilege to lead the company through this exciting period of expansion.”

With 25 funeral homes across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and most recently Leicestershire, A.W. Lymn, the fifth-generation family funeral directors, prides itself on offering a variety of services available at an affordable price to the families it has served since 1907.