The Individual Funeral Company Ltd

04/02/2026

This is a sculpture by Celeste Roberge called ‘The weight of grief.’

Grief affects everyone in really different ways and it can often begin before someone dies.

We can mourn the person they once were while we are still sitting in a room with them.

We can grieve after they’ve died which can evolve and change over time. Some days it can be overwhelming and others, it can be a gentle reminder they’ve gone.

In the initial days after death, we’ve found that for almost everyone, simple instructions can be a struggle and information vanishes from memory as soon as words have been spoken.

While we always like to meet people face to face, we love using emails just as much so our clients have a written record of the decisions they’ve made, those still left to make and then giving people time to make sure it all still feels right to them.

We’ve always looked to see how we can make things as easy as possible in those first few days and how we can continue to make it easy in the weeks ahead.
Everything we have put in place and everything we do, are things we wish someone had done for us.

Our clients are also never a burden. We answer the phone 24/7 to the people we are working for. It may be they have a question they want to know the answer to or they want to double check instructions they’ve given us.

We absolutely want people to call us at night and on the weekend. There is no need at all to wait and we’re always happy to be contacted whenever suits our clients.

The most common things people say to us are -

‘We didn’t expect you to pick up the phone and just wanted to leave a message’ and ‘I didn’t expect you to reply to our email so quickly.’

But why wouldn’t we? We think that is a basic part of what we do and if it’s important to you, it’s important to us.

We aren’t like other funeral directors and these are just a couple of reasons why we aren’t.

Funerals, the people we look after and our clients are too important for us for this to be a 9-5 job.
We really do care about every single thing we do - our Google reviews and testimonial page on our website are testament to this.

19/01/2026

When someone dies, it can often feel like your world has just been turned upside down.
For many, it has. You’re now navigating a new world without that person in it.

Like any good funeral director, we always think ‘How can we help and make everything as easy as possible?’

We’ve tried to put in place everything we wish we had when we were in your shoes.

- Prices online to get an idea of costs
- Lots of information on our website to see what is possible
- Having the owner of our company available by phone 24/7
- Emailing quotations based on your requirements
- Follow-up emails so you can keep track of everything
- Giving a timescale of 10-14 days for a funeral service when people want a funeral in a respectful time frame

All of these little things really matter to us and we know these little things add up to make a big difference.

It’s why we have near 60 excellent reviews on Google left by real clients.
It’s why we have worked for the same families more than once.
It’s why our clients recommend us to their friends.
It’s why churches, natural burial grounds and Oxford Colleges recommend us.
It’s why we’ve been asked by other funeral professionals to arrange services for members of their own family.

We understand the power and importance of funerals and we do everything possible to make sure they are absolutely perfect….Lucy has even been known to make it stop raining and even order snow when asked!

12/01/2026

We are working extremely hard to make sure people are able to have a funeral in a respectful timeframe.

From the day a client instructs us to the day of a funeral is, on average, 10 days.

We are currently working with a number of families who have been told by their original funeral director that they can’t have a service until the middle of February!

Unless it is your choice to wait that long, there really isn’t any reason why even the most complicated funeral can’t take place within a maximum of 14 days.

If you don’t like the availability of the company you first decided to employ, you can switch to another funeral director.

Our job is to work around our clients and their requirements. We never expect any family to wait which is why we do everything possible to make sure funerals happen as quickly as we can.

We can be contacted any time of the day or night to discuss what options there may be on 01865 714130

09/01/2026

Well, no snow for us but it just meant we could really appreciate these terribly old headstones in a local churchyard.

06/01/2026

Well, Oxford seems like a black hole for snow. Always hitting every county around us but today we did get a smattering.

When we collect people, we always use our British racing green van. It has everything we need to keep people safe and secure no matter what the weather.

In heavier snow, we have our Land Rover Discovery which is most often used as a hearse. But should the weather require it, this car has a special snow mode which means we can get absolutely anywhere but most importantly, again, people with us are safe and secure.

So, no matter what the weather, we are totally prepared - even if the snow only lasted an hour or so today!

31/12/2025

We would like to wish you all a very happy New Year.

We know for some, it will mark the end of one of the hardest years they will ever have. We’ve walked beside you as you have navigated your grief and hope we have made it just a little bit easier.

While we wish no one would ever need us again, we remain ready to help those who seek us out for a really personal, responsive and bespoke funeral.

So here’s to 2026 and everything it brings.

21/12/2025

We had the opportunity to make some very special friends this week after our client requested four black horses.

With thanks to the amazing Brunswick Carriage Company, these beautiful boys were impeccable throughout the entire journey.

It’s really important to us that when our clients request something special, that we work with the very best of the best.

To ensure that these special touches remain affordable, we have never and will never add to the cost we are charged by specialist carriage masters and our clients are only ever charged for the costs we pay.

Why do we do this? It’s because we want everyone to have something special without it becoming unaffordable.

We love being able to put together a really bespoke funeral service and for us, we want our clients to have exactly what they want.

After all, we will forever believe that everyone deserves an individual funeral.

15/12/2025

We remain on call 24-7 over the Christmas and New Year period.
It could be for immediate help by bringing a person into our care or it could be for a quotation or question you have. Whatever you need, Lucy is personally taking all calls.

Our office will only be open when clients who have arranged an appointment to see us between Christmas Eve and New Years Day.

It’s important that we work around our clients and their needs so if someone wants to come to our office on Christmas Day to talk through arrangements, we will make it happen.

While we wish we weren’t going to be needed as the year draws to an end, we absolutely remain committed that our family is here to help yours should you need us.

We are only ever a phone call away on 01865 714130.

We believe in helping clients make funeral arrangements as bespoke and individual as you would like.
All FB posts, Tweets and pictures are © of Lucy Coulbert

09/12/2025

Lucy was having a walk around Oxford earlier and spotted this brilliant painting by and immediately fell in love.
So much so she had to stop and take a picture.

While she would love it on the walls of her office, alas, it is sadly out of our price range but we love it.

It basically sums up why she started The Individual Funeral Company.

Employed by national funeral directors and having to work to their rules, Lucy never really felt quite at home.
‘A square peg trying to fit into a round hole,’ is how she usually describes it.

So, she broke every single ‘rule’ that was in that particular world and started her own company. Being ethical, honest, kind.

We know, that sounds crazy. Those three things should be the very basics that funeral directors should be but she found that wasn’t necessarily true.

By being human and just a decent human, her clients recommend us. Not just publicly by writing reviews but 95% of our clients come to us because they have attended a funeral service she has arranged or a past client has recommended us.
That is something she values above all things.

‘You can’t buy recommendations and you can always rely on your friends being honest with you. It’s why it means so much.’

So, here’s to all the rule breakers and wherever it takes you.

03/12/2025

Nothing we love more than helping people arrange funeral services in some pretty unique places.
Over the years we’ve been asked to go to many Oxford colleges and it’s always a really humbling experience.

To walk into their chapels and know that long after we’re gone, these buildings will still be standing.

We go to the colleges, meet the chaplains, talk through every part of the service way in advance of a funeral taking place. Often, we make multiple visits just to be completely certain that we know what will happen and then make multiple plans for every eventuality.

Some of my professional colleagues think this is excessive. I would counter that by working this hard in advance means that on the day of a funeral service, there is no doubt in our minds that everything will be perfect.

As Lucy always says - ‘I will accept nothing less than perfection.’
She really means it too.

Making sure everything is perfect is just completely ingrained in her. This is personal. Funerals matter. They have to be perfect.

This is why she works to hard but even she admits that on a beautiful winter morning, it’s hard not to think how lucky we are.

10/11/2025

It’s that time of year again where we are taking over funeral arrangements from other companies and are being inundated with enquiries from families to see how we can help them.

Our clients are being told funerals can’t happen until the middle of December and so are turning to our company to help them instead.

This is beyond outrageous and there is no reason why anyone should wait this long unless it is something they have specifically chosen.

On average, we can arrange even the most complicated services to take place within 7-14 days when we have the green form.

We think 7-14 days is a respectful timeframe in which to have a funeral service take place. Being asked to wait 4-6 weeks is incomprehensible.

Even after instructing a funeral director, if they can’t do what you’re asking, you are under no obligation to stay with them and we firmly encourage people to walk away if they can’t do what you’ve asked.

Our clients are our boss. If they want something, we make it happen.
We work to their requirements and availability not the other way around.

I would like to ask everyone to share this post far and wide so people know they don’t have to put up with this. No one should ever wait for a funeral service and families absolutely have the right to employ someone who can.

We believe in helping clients make funeral arrangements as bespoke and individual as you would like.
All FB posts, Tweets and pictures are © of Lucy Coulbert

28/10/2025

My family and I took a trip to Edinburgh last weekend for a very special visit.
Our grandad spent decades in the Royal and Merchant Navy but he served on a very special boat - Her Majesty’s Royal Yacht Britannia.

While all of his stories began ‘When I was in the Navy,’ I don’t think any of us quite believed him when he told stories of being on board with the Queen.

You see, Grandad was a bit of a character and no matter what we needed, it was always in the loft.
Need a surf board - ‘there’s one in the loft.’
Need a microlight - ‘there’s one in the loft.’

And then one day - ‘I’ve got a menu in the loft from Britannia. I think my hat ribbon is up there too.’

Now you can see why we didn’t quite believe him - until we found the menu. And then the pictures of him on deck with the Queen. And more pictures of him in the Caribbean with Princess Margaret.

For us to visit a boat he was actually on was quite something. All his others are sadly no longer.

And then we saw his office. All of us clearly remembering the photo he showed us once of him sitting in it but still thinking he was pulling our leg.

Obviously we were hugely proud of him anyway but from our tour, we now know that only the very best of the best got to be on Britannia and just what a huge deal it was.

So, here’s to you Grandad and everything we are yet to discover in the loft!