When I took over at HN Peake or Graham Kent Funeral Directors, as it was known then in August of 2008 it was a career path I had never envisaged for myself. At that time, I had recently turned 40 and was in a position where I didn’t feel my work was providing the mental satisfaction I required.
We all work to live, we have bills to pay and families to feed, however, often as you get older and your bills hopefully become a smaller part of your income requirement, money is not the major motivator for getting you up. Sometimes you feel you need to be making a difference as this is far more likely to provide a positive feeling about your work.
Since leaving school I had worked throughout my 24 years in many different industries ranging in both practical skills and people skills through a mixture of jobs taking in working in a scrap yard, running a petrol filling station to sales, training and advising roles and eventually a move into middle management before being made redundant and returning to a contract engineer/fitter position.
I had always enjoyed the variation in the work but had never found a career that covered all aspects, people focused, practical, administration and foremost making a difference.
To be able to work alongside a family at what is one of the most difficult times of their lives to help them plan and undertake a truly fitting tribute to a loved one is a humbling experience. To be given the utmost trust to take care of a loved one in the brief period between passing and their final journey is the highest honour anyone can bestow upon you.
At Peakes of Tolcarne we do not take on that responsibility lightly and in fact when you place your loved one into our care they are not taken into a cold and impersonal chapel of rest they are brought into my home.
During my time in the industry I have worked alongside seasoned undertakers who have provided me with the practical knowledge needed to effectively work as a Funeral Director and my own unique approach has allowed us to grow into a medium sized, modern undertakers who keep all of the traditional parts of the service while providing a modern, human and very personal approach to carrying out funerals.
As we are a medium sized Funeral Directors it means we are able to ensure wherever possible that the first person you speak to will be with you to hold your hand, assist or just stand alongside you while we help you plan the most fitting send off to your loved one.
As the business grew, I took the decision to move into a new premises in the Old Doctors Surgery in Newlyn in June of 2012, which we purposely converted to provide a comfortable, more home like surrounding for people to come and discuss their individual requirements for a funeral service and to spend a little time with their loved ones if desired. At this time, we changed the company name to Peakes of Tolcarne, to better reflect the history of the business which was established in 1830 having moved into its new home which also provides for disabled access and parking for visitors upon request.
We rarely carry out two funerals on the same day, this ensures we have as much time available for you on the day of the service to make sure everything runs smoothly at a pace that suits you.
There is nothing worse in our mind as seeing an undertaker trying to usher people away from the Crematorium or the Cemetery quickly so that they can go on to the next funeral. This must result in a very impersonal service and feel almost like working on a production line, not the sort of service we provide, or indeed would wish to.
Jeremy Burt
Proprietor