June 2025
Funeral Director Simon Wakely is a familiar figure in Bridport – so much so that shopping in the town with his wife is impossible because so many people stop him for a chat. And this year he looks set to become even more well known as he starts a two-year term as chairman of the Melplash Show. We met Simon at his East Street office to hear about his career with the family business and his hopes for the region’s biggest agricultural show…
The Bridge: Simon, it’s so good to meet you. Your business dates back over 100 years and is a household name locally. Did it start from humble beginnings?
Simon Wakely: My great-great-grandfather Arthur and his brother Ernie had an undertaker’s business in Broadwindsor, working with people in the farming community. Back then it was a very different job – the undertaker would make the coffin, a nurse would prepare the deceased for burial and the coffin would be taken from the house to the church on a hand-pulled trolley called a bier. Many undertakers had other work as well, usually involving carpentry skills that they could use when making coffins – Ernie and Arthur were wheelwrights and gatemakers, too.
TB: When did their business start to grow?
SW: Arthur’s son Jack – my granddad – was a publican and builder in Beaminster and he helped his dad and uncle part time in their business. After Ernie died in 1936, Jack carried on working with Arthur – he was ahead of his time and made some changes that really helped the business expand. He bought a hearse car, for instance, which many undertakers didn’t have at the time. Lots of local village undertakers wanted to use it to go to the new crematorium in Weymouth, which opened in 1937.
TB: How did the business reach Bridport?
SW: The business’s early expansion involved buying village undertakers where the proprietor was getting older and there was no one to take over from them. This happened in Corscombe, Cattistock, Maiden Newton and Charmouth. Then in the late 60s Jack bought a small funeral business in Bridport, and moved into the house that’s now our ‘head office’ here in East Street. By 1970 he was working in the business full time, and over the following 12 years his older son David – my dad – and his younger son Clive – my uncle – both joined the firm too. From then things really flew! My dad and uncle were forward-thinking in their approach to the business and in the service they gave. They expanded into Lyme Regis and Crewkerne and then into Yeovil, where they bought two existing businesses.
TB: So where do you fit in?
SW: I joined the business in 1995. I’d been to Weymouth College to study stonemasonry – I was thinking of a career making headstones, but when I spent time in the business, expanding my knowledge, I realised that what I enjoyed most was working with people. Stonemasonry would have been much more solitary! So I came across and started working with Dad on the funeral side. Over the next 15 years I learnt so much from him – he was lovely to work with. When he died in 2009 I was 34 and I was catapulted into a serious role in the business. I had to learn very quickly.
TB: That must have been very difficult – a steep learning curve.
SW: Before he died, Dad told me: “The future is you and Clive.” Happily Clive is still with us, working in our business in the Yeovil area; we’ve bonded, stabilised and expanded, and between us we look after 11 offices and employ nearly 90 people. And now my cousin Richard (Clive’s son) and my sister Leah have joined us too.
In most cases we’ve expanded by taking over ‘one-man band’ firms; there’s a lot of pressure on them, lots of beauracracy, and in every case they’ve been happy to go to another family business. We have a good reputation and people are pleased to work alongside us.
TB: What qualities do you think make a good funeral director?
SW: Patience and understanding. It’s about getting to know families and understanding their needs. There’s so much variety in funerals nowadays, so many options. I always say we are event coordinators with empathy!
TB: You must have had some unusual requests for funerals…
SW: One of the most unusual was to bury a man upright. He had been in a wheelchair for much of his life and his family wanted him to be buried standing up. We’ve also arranged gun salutes for military funerals, and even a flypast by three Apache helicopters.
And we have a Land Rover hearse now, for something a bit different. In a rural area like this, there are lots of farming familes who prefer this to a traditional hearse.
TB: How do you feel about being chairman of the Melplash Show?
SW: I’m really enjoying it. I’ve worked in the family business for more than 30 years and I love my job, but it’s nice to have a totally different challenge. The previous chairman was Philip Hardwill, who set such a high standard – he only missed one meeting in two years. I was deputy chairman under him; that’s usually how things progress.
It’s important to support local organisations and give some time back to the community. Things don’t exist if people don’t give them their energy.
TB: What are your duties as chairman?
SW: I’m the ‘front face’ of the show, a link between the various committees – for sponsorship, for instance, and all the different animal committees – so I have to understand all their needs. I also front lots of events that happen before the main show, including farm, stock and garden judging. There’s a lot going on – there’s so much more to the Melplash Show than that one day in August! – and the show is very lucky to have Lucy Hart as its secretary. She is amazing and ties the whole thing together.
I’m looking forward to the show – fingers crossed for a good dry day.
TB: How do you do it all? It must be difficult to balance work, family life and your Melplash Show responsibilities.
SW: I love my work and I make sure I keep a close bond with the team here. That’s part of running a family business. I like to look after the team and have fun with them. My wife, Sam, works with me in the business – she heads up the financial side, having had a long career in finance before coming here eight years ago.
Dad is there, too, sitting in my thoughts. Working with him never felt like work. He taught me that we have a serious job to do but we do it better if we want to do it, and if we feel supported.
The 2025 Melplash Show is on Thursday 21 August. We’ll have more information about the show and this year’s president, John Bugler, in the July/August issue.
Visit www.melplashshow.co.uk for details and tickets.
www.ajwakely.com