It's time to rethink how Britain deals with death

By Zillah Byng-Thorne, Chief Executive, Life Services Group. This article first appeared in the Daily Mail on 5 December 2025.

Death remains one of the last great taboos in British life, and our reluctance to talk about it carries very real consequences. At a time when we discuss everything from mental health to menopause more openly than ever, death still sits uneasily at the edges of conversation.

Yet it is precisely this avoidance that has allowed the funeral sector to remain, in many respects, a relic of the past. Outdated methods, a lack of meaningful regulation, and a system that too often does not reflect what people actually want at the end of their lives have created a troubling reality: only around one in four people believe their loved ones experienced what they would describe as a good death. That should be a wake-up call for all of us.

Everyone deserves the right to a good death, and their loved ones deserve compassionate, sensitive support throughout one of the most difficult moments they will ever face. As CEO of Dignity, I am determined to do what I have done throughout my career: push for meaningful, overdue reform. We urgently need to overhaul and modernise this industry so that funerals, cremations, and the entire bereavement process meet the needs and expectations of people living in the 21st century.

Stronger regulations are required to guarantee better standards of care, but we also need to modernise the infrastructure that underpins the entire system. At the moment, too much of the bereavement journey still relies on paper records and manual processes. Digitising records, improving data sharing, and creating a more streamlined, coherent pathway for families would significantly speed up what is already a deeply painful process.

Currently, families are waiting two and a half weeks longer for funerals and cremations than they did a decade ago. That is two and a half weeks added to the period before someone can say goodbye and begin the process of coming to terms with their loss. We should be doing everything possible to shorten, not prolong, this period of uncertainty.

Increasing numbers of people are choosing direct cremation, and this shift cannot simply be dismissed as driven by cost. For many, it is about breaking away from convention and opting for something that feels more personal and authentic, unbound by the expectations of traditional funerals.

That is one of the reasons we have launched Simplicity, offering families the freedom to commemorate their loved ones in the way that is right for them. A modern funeral system should empower people with choice, not confine them to a model that has barely changed in decades.

Transforming services is only one part of the solution. We also need to transform the people and processes behind them. At Dignity, we have launched an AI and Data Academy, with 55 colleagues currently enrolled in courses ranging from AI and Strategy Leadership to AI for Business Value and AI-Powered Productivity.

Investing in training enables us to automate repetitive processes, improve efficiencies, and build a digitally capable workforce ready to support families better. It is not about replacing the human touch, but about freeing our teams to focus on what matters most: care, compassion, and professionalism.

Even with better technology and more choice, we cannot ignore the fundamental issue that threatens public trust: the absence of mandatory regulation. Today in the UK, it is easier to open a funeral home than a sandwich shop. Anyone can call themselves a funeral director, with no licensing, training requirements, or independent inspections.

Recent high-profile cases involving the mistreatment of the deceased have understandably shaken public confidence and exposed the risks of an unregulated system. New data from The State of Dying in the UK report shows that nearly half of people, 46%, wrongly believe funeral directors are already regulated, while 80% of the public support the introduction of formal oversight.

As one of the UK's largest funeral providers, Dignity is calling for regulation of our own industry. Strong safeguards, consistent standards, and clear accountability are essential to protect families at their most vulnerable moments. Regulation should not be seen as a burden but as a fundamental promise: that every person will be treated with dignity, care, and respect, whatever their circumstances.

We must reach a point where people feel able to talk about death, plan for it, and express their wishes long before crisis strikes. Avoiding these conversations does not spare us pain; it simply compounds it.

Industry, government, and regulators now have a shared responsibility to rebuild trust through transparency, training, and open dialogue. Working together, we can create a funeral care system that treats both the living and the dead with the compassion and respect they deserve, and finally bring one of our society's last taboos into the light.