We’re delighted to announce that Coles Funeral Directors has been crowned the ‘Family Business of the Year’ at the sixth annual Cardiff Business Awards.
Hosted by Jamie Owen, the virtual ceremony took place on November 13th and included 46 local companies who were named as finalists in this year’s highly anticipated awards. With a record-breaking number of entries for 2020, the Cardiff Business Awards celebrates the best businesses in Cardiff and the vast potential that exists within the capital city of Wales.
The judges commented they were “blown away by sheer passion”, and host, Jamie Owen described our work as a “brave, but sensible, good thing to do.”This was largely down to our Education Programme which we launched earlier this year, seeing our team work with schools within our community to not only educate but normalise conversations around death. The programme allows children to visit our funeral home and ask open, honest questions of our funeral directors to help break the stigma around talking about death.
Francesca Coles, head of communications said: “As a local family business, we really wanted to be champions of this change in culture. Historically, we don’t like to talk about death and it’s really important that we can go to children and start changing the perception at a very young age, so children feel comfortable and prepared when they experience loss. That’s what our educational programme is all about.”
Speaking of the win, managing director, Gareth Coles said: “We’re thrilled to have won the ‘Family Business of the Year’ award and to see our Education Programme highlighted as part of this win. This award is reflective of the true dedication of our team when it comes to engaging the local community, having open conversations around grief and death, and changing the perceptions of our sector.
“We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response to our programme so far and although physical visits are currently paused due to the ongoing global pandemic, we are delighted to have been recognised for our hard work so far and are looking forward to re-starting this work as soon as we can.”
As a whole, the awards recognise those companies and individuals who have enjoyed impressive success over the last year and have made an outstanding contribution both to their respective sectors and to the wider Cardiff economy itself.
The main sponsor for the awards, Cardiff Council Cllr Huw Thomas, Leader of Cardiff Council said: “While this year’s awards have taken place in a very difficult environment for business, we have been delighted with the range and quality of the applications. Amongst the winners, there are well-established businesses in the city and a new generation of technology companies who will be making their mark in the economy over the years ahead.
“As a Council, we look forward to working with all the businesses and helping them to grow and prosper in our capital city.”
The Cardiff Business Awards was supported by headline sponsors Cardiff Council, with other sponsors including; AMPLYFI, Bluegg, Box UK, Cardiff and Vale College, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Cleartech Live, CPS Group (UK), Development Bank of Wales, Dragon Taxis, LexisNexis Risk Solutions, Towergate Insurance Brokers and United Purpose.
To watch the virtual awards in full, please visit https://cardiffbusinessawards.com/awards/2020#shortlist or skip to 26 minutes, 15 seconds to watch our very own Francesca Coles accept the award on behalf of Coles Funeral Directors