Dignity plc

The business was created in 1994 through the merger of Plantsbrook Group and Great Southern Group,[1] both of which companies had been acquired by Service Corporation International Inc earlier that year.[2] In 2002 the merged business was the subject of a management buyout from Service Corporation International Inc.[3] The merger brought together a number of funeral service businesses.[1]

There are currently 795 Dignity Funeral Directors across the UK. Several mergers and organic growth have brought together a number of historic funeral businesses, private cemeteries and crematoria over the years, including:

• George S Munn, Glasgow – 1812
• Francis Chappell & Sons, London – 1840
• J Rymer, York – 1848
• Ginns & Gutteridge, Leicestershire – 1855
• Lawrence Funeral Service, Halifax – 1857
• E Finch & Sons, Aldershot – 1857
• Beckenham Cemetery, Kent – 1876
• J H Kenyon, London – 1880
• Frederick W Paine, London – 1884
• Perry Barr Crematorium, Birmingham – 1903
• John Bardgett & Son, Newcastle upon Tyne – 1914
• Jonathan Harvey, Glasgow – 1928
• South London Crematorium – 1930
• Seaford & Newhaven Funeral Service, East Sussex – 1950

In January 2023, the board agreed to accept an offer for the company from a consortium of investors including SPWOne V Ltd, Castelnau Group and Phoenix Asset Management.[4]

Dignity provides funeral services, cremations and pre-arranged funerals UK-wide through three separate brands:[5]

• Dignity Funeral Services
• The Crematorium and Memorial Group
• Simplicity Cremations

• Official site
• Dignity Funeral Plans
• Simplicity Cremations