Introducing Life Services Group: a new chapter for Dignity

28 September 2026 – Dignity today launches Life Services Group (“Life Services” or the “Group”), its new group corporate identity, bringing together its brands, services and technology into a single end-of-life services platform to make it simpler for families to access better, more connected support before, at and after death.

For generations, families have been left to navigate the end of life through a fragmented system, dealing with different providers for needs ranging from wills and funeral plans through to funerals, probate, cremation and memorialisation. Life Services changes that by bringing together a full range of end-of-life services under one platform, combining specialist expertise, national infrastructure and technology to provide families with a more connected and compassionate experience.

Life Services currently supports around 200,000 families every year and our ambition is to become the UK’s leading end-of-life services provider, supporting one in three families as they plan for and cope with death.

Following today’s launch, the Life Services name will sit above the Group’s established customer-facing brands, including Dignity Funeral Directors, Dignity Legal Services, Farewill, Simplicity Cremations and the Crematorium and Memorial Group. Each will continue to operate under its existing name and serve its respective customers and communities, while becoming “Part of Life” to reflect its place within the wider Group.

Alongside its national network of funeral directors and crematoria, the Group provides services spanning wills, lasting powers of attorney, funeral plans, funerals, probate, cremations, burials and memorialisation, providing a unique breadth of expertise and infrastructure across the UK end-of-life sector.

Increasingly, these services are being connected through a common technology platform, Fabric, enabling the Group to build deeper and more personalised relationships with customers and support families across different stages of later-life planning and bereavement.

The Group is already beginning to deliver on its integrated model. Farewill customers are now able to access Simplicity funeral plans, whilst Simplicity customers can access will-writing services and well over 60% of Dignity Funeral customers choose to have a legal advice call through Dignity Legal Services. Life Services represents not only a new corporate identity, but the next stage in delivering the Group’s ambition to create a genuinely connected end-of-life services platform.

Life Services is backed by long-term shareholders Castelnau Group and SPWOne, the investment vehicle founded by Sir Peter Wood, which together acquired Dignity in 2023.

Since then, the Group has undergone a significant operational and financial transformation. It has returned to profitability, reduced debt by £200m, broadened its range of services and invested over £50m since being taken private in its operations, technology and customer proposition, creating stronger foundations for its next phase of growth.

A key step in that transformation was the acquisition of digital wills and probate provider Farewill in 2025. As well as extending the Group into legal services, Farewill has brought proprietary technology and digital capability which is being deployed across Life Services.

Farewill’s technology is now being used to broaden access to estate planning and probate services across the Group and to support its funeral plans business. In parallel, all of the Group’s websites have been brought onto a single technology platform, creating common digital infrastructure across its portfolio of brands.

That common technology platform will connect directly into Life Services’ AI-enabled Customer Engagement Platform, bringing together customer records that would previously have sat separately across the business. This will enable the Group to better understand each customer’s relationship with Life Services and, where appropriate, identify the most relevant next service or support for them and their family.

The Group has also continued to invest in its funeral and crematoria estate and modernise its technology and wider infrastructure, including through the introduction of a unified digital care-tracking system across the UK. At the same time, it has simplified its operating model and increased its focus on efficiency, customer experience and consistently high standards of care.

The introduction of Life Services reflects this evolution: bringing together complementary businesses with distinct brands and areas of expertise, supported by common technology and a shared ambition to improve the way end-of-life services are delivered in the UK.

Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive Officer of Life Services Group, said:

“Today is an important day for us, marking the next chapter for our business and our 3,000 colleagues. The launch of Life Services reflects how far this business has come and, importantly, the Group we are building for the future. Over the past three years we have transformed the Group financially and operationally, broadened the services we provide and invested significantly in the technology and infrastructure that will support our future growth.

“Death is part of life. Everyone faces it, yet too few are well served when they do. Life Services changes that by bringing together a full range of end-of-life services under one platform.

“Importantly, we are also increasingly connecting those services through a common technology platform, which will create a more connected and personalised customer experience and make it simpler for families to get the support they need.

“We have always taken the lead when it comes to improving end-of-life care, whether by investing across our network to go above and beyond industry standards, or stepping in at the expense of £50m to support 60,000 families whose funeral plan providers collapsed to give them the funeral they were originally promised. We will continue to lead standards of care across the UK, so every family can have confidence that their loved ones will be treated with care and respect at the moments that matter most.

“Our people are central to delivering that ambition. We want Life Services to be a great place to build a career, where talented people can thrive, feel proud of the difference they make and are supported to deliver the very best for those we care for.

“Our aim is to become the UK’s leading end-of-life services provider, supporting one in three families as they plan for and cope with death. We now have the breadth of services, national infrastructure, technology and financial foundations to deliver that ambition and make what can be one of the hardest periods in people’s lives as simple, compassionate and well-supported as possible.”

Headland: Stephen Malthouse, Rob Walker and Kieran Cunningham.

lsg@headlandconsultancy.com or 0203 805 4822.

Life Services Group is a leading provider of end-of-life services in the UK. The Group provides services spanning wills, funeral plans, funerals, probate, cremations, burials and memorialisation.

The Group includes Dignity Funeral Directors, Dignity Legal Services, Farewill, Simplicity Cremations and the Crematorium and Memorial Group, bringing together specialist expertise and national infrastructure to support people and families through every stage of later-life planning and bereavement.

With a heritage dating back to 1812, the Group is committed to setting the highest standards in end-of-life care, providing compassionate, respectful and professional support to families at some of the most difficult moments in their lives.

To find out more, read about Life Services Group.