'For a good while I simply could not believe it' - Funeral director named in the New Year's Honours list

Nigel Lymn Rose, company chairman of Nottingham’s oldest and largest independent funeral directors A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service and a fourth generation member of the family business which was established in 1907, has been awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to the bereaved - having dedicated more than 50 years of his life to the funeral industry in Nottinghamshire and South Derbyshire. 

Nigel has been at the forefront of the funeral sector, setting the standard for other funeral businesses with his forthright commitment to doing all that he can for the bereaved people in the care of his business, which has taken over the Hammerwich Cemetery and Crematorium on the outskirts of Burntwood near Lichfield.

A former National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) president during the association’s centenary year in 2005, winner of the Good Funeral Awards Lifetime Achievement award in 2015 and having been awarded the distinction of Honorary Membership of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) in 2019 – only the 30th individual to receive the honour in the association’s 116-year history – he has continued to dedicate his time to the family business despite now being of retirement age.

He said of the Royal honour: “It was the most wonderful surprise to receive the letter and for a good while I simply could not believe it. My first thought was ‘why me?’ followed by how grateful I am and have been throughout my entire career for the support of my wonderful wife Penny and then how much I wished my father was here to tell because I know he would be so proud.

“It really is the accolade of a lifetime and one which I feel I am in receipt of on behalf of all of the dedicated, selfless and caring colleagues I’ve worked alongside at A.W. Lymn over the years. I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude and respect for each and every person who gives their career to serving the bereaved, because at a time of loss people are at their most vulnerable. What we do is offer kind, calm and considered words and practical services to help on the worst of days and to be recognised in this way for doing what I feel has been my life’s calling is truly humbling.”