Dorset funeral group wins family business award

Voted for by the public, Douch Family Funeral Directors came top in the Family Business United ‘People’s Choice’ award for the south and south west.

The fourth generation business beat, among others, Thatcher’s Cider and St Austell Brewery, which have a national presence.

With eight branches in Dorset, Douch Family Funeral Directors runs the award-winning Dorset Funeral Plan and has expanded by taking over other family funeral businesses, retaining their names, ethos and staff.

Managing director Nick Douch said that many of the families that the group had helped over the years were happy to vote, and their community work also prompted many others to support them.

Nick and fellow company director Jonathan Stretch, whose distant relative Albert Marsh founded the Wareham branch, collected the award in London.

Nick said: “To beat some national brands in the people’s award for our region was a great surprise.

“We operate only in Dorset but others nominated were nationwide brands with huge numbers of staff and massive turnovers.

“Our customers really helped us to win, which shows that we’ve provided an excellent service for them.

“We also utilised social media and received great support from people in Dorset, who we’d like to thank.”