77. What it’s really like running a funeral directors business | Damian Melville
5/4/20261 hr 9 min
Running a business is hard, but what is it like when your work sits at the centre of people’s most emotional moments?
In this episode of all about business, James Reed sits down with Damian Melville, Managing Director of Melville & Daughter Funeral Directors. Together they explore leadership in one of the most emotionally demanding industries there is.
Damian shares his journey into the family business, reflecting on the responsibilities that come when helping people in their most vulnerable time, and how that shapes both leadership-style and company-culture. He shares what balancing tradition with modernisation means, the realities of running a business where empathy is as important as efficiency, and the discipline required to maintain high standards in sensitive circumstances.
The conversation explores what it means to lead with care while still making clear commercial decisions, how to build trust within communities, and why consistency and professionalism matter more than ever, in a service built on reputation. Damian also discusses the challenges of succession in a family-run business and the importance of supporting both clients and staff through emotionally complex work.
A thoughtful, grounded conversation about leadership, responsibility, and building a business where purpose and performance have to coexist every step of the way.
Timestamps
01:04 Finding a niche market
06:36 Going solo challenges
12:50 Winning trust locally
23:18 COVID shock to the system
36:27 Hiring costs and NI
43:25 A Funeral director day
01:00:26 Memorial innovations and burials
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Find out more about Melville & Daughters Funeral Directors here
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Clips
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First 90 secondsJames Reed· Host0:00
Welcome to All About Business with me, James Reid, the podcast that covers everything about business, management, and leadership. Every episode, I sit down with different guests of bootstrap companies, masterminded investment models, or built a business empire. They're leaders in their field, and they're here to give you top insights and actionable advice so that you can apply their ideas to your own career or business venture. [upbeat music] Few professions require quite the same combination of compassion, resilience, and responsibility as that of a funeral director. Today on All About Business, I'm joined by Damian Melville, whose work involves supporting families through some of the most difficult moments of their lives. In this episode, we discuss how someone enters the funeral profession, what it means to work closely with death, and the extraordinary challenges faced by funeral businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Well, today on All About Business, I'm really delighted to welcome Damian Melville. Um, Damian is the founder and managing director of Melville and Daughters Funeral Directors.
Damian Melville· Guest1:12
That's correct, yeah.
James Reed· Host1:13
And, uh, you're based in Tottenham, North London.
Damian Melville· Guest1:15
Mm-hmm.
James Reed· Host1:16
Um, your business, Damian, was established in 2010, and you initially identified the Afro-Caribbean market as your focus, but you've widened out from there since you began.
Damian Melville· Guest1:26
Yeah, essentially I was, I was trying to find a niche, uh, within a business