20 entrepreneurs
Pioneering a very Colourful approach to funerals
When Mary Tomes mentioned to a funeral director acquaintance that she wanted a yellow coffin with white daisies on it, she could hardly have imagined where the chance remark would lead. Told there was no such thing – and never one to take no for an answer – she spotted a business opportunity, and in 2004 used her expertise and knowledge from the family print business to launch Oxford-based Colourful Coffins. Today, as the company celebrates its first decade by breaking through the £1 million barrier, she is recognised as an award- winning businesswoman and industry pioneer. Alison Dewar found out more
Born into an Army family in Caterham, Surrey, Tomes’ first foray into Oxford was when she was four years old and her father was stationed just outside the city. The area obviously made a big impression because, after several more postings countrywide, her father left the Army and returned to Cowley to set up his own printing business, Parchment Printers. Tomes finished her education with a fashion apprenticeship at the Oxford College of Further Education, before embarking on a stint as an in-house model for several of the city’s big stores. Marriage at 19 and the arrival of son Bob curtailed her modelling and travelling commitments and she decided to join the family business, taking over after her father died when she was 40. Having met second husband Kevin, she remarried in 1973 and today Kevin is chief designer, while both Bob and daughter Kate work in the family business. In 2010, Mary won the inaugural Gaia Award at the prestigious NatWest everywoman Awards and was proud to be awarded the first Fellowship of the Society of Bereavement Practitioners.
made it even more difficult. The vast majority of coffins are still bought through funeral directors, so we had to persuade them that there was a market for colourful picture coffins and that they shouldn’t be afraid to offer something that was so completely different to what was already available. When you think that for years they had been selling what were effectively “plain brown wooden boxes” the idea of a beautiful coloured picture coffin that was personalised to celebrate the life of an individual was very different and quite hard for them to take on board at first. We still sell exclusively through funeral directors and many of them are now great supporters of what we do.
Were you ever tempted to give up? Never.
Tell us how a casual remark about a coffin led to a million-pound business
As printers we did a lot of work for local funeral directors and I just happened to mention that I wanted a pretty coffin. When he said they didn’t exist, I was quite surprised. I was approaching my 60s and looking to step back from the print business, but I wanted something to keep me busy. I talked to Kevin about the idea of launching a business designing bespoke, personalised picture coffins and once he’d got over the shock, he could see it was a great idea. It’s been hard work and a long road, but now I really believe colourful coffins are finally coming of age.
Presumably you knew very little about the funeral trade, was it easy to break into?
Not at all. The funeral business is still very traditional and being a woman with a new idea
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Do you think you’ve changed the way people think about coffins?
I’d like to think so. In the past 10 years, we’ve introduced personalised colourful cardboard ones, we’ve added a new range with sparkles and glitter, and we’ve even developed online tools so people can upload their own pictures into a template to design their own. It’s something that more and more people are doing now, in the same way that they plan their funeral and choose their favourite music or readings, now they are choosing their coffins too.
I think the media has helped make it less of a taboo subject too. We’ve been fortunate enough to be on TV several times and in newspapers and magazines, so it always gets people talking. We’ve also noticed a real increase in interest since Hayley in Coronation Street chose a flower-patterned coffin for her funeral and her “mourners” dressed in bright colours. It’s all about changing peoples’ perceptions and I hope we’ve helped to do that.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – MAY 2014
What’s the most unusual design you’ve ever had to do?
That’s probably the question I get asked more than anything else. We’ve had dolphins swimming in a sea of chocolate, crossword puzzles, graffiti designs, sporting celebrations and montages of family photos. We can do any design that a family asks the funeral director for and they often send in photos or drawings for us to use, sometime they come and see us as well and talk to our designers. My view is that if the design is very special and means something to a family, then who are we to say it is unusual or not. I might think a request is a bit different, but then I meet the family and
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