Austin’s Funeral Directors to move to larger Stevenage premises

Stevenage’s Austin’s Funeral Directors is reportedly poised to move its head office into a larger premises in the town. 

According to local paper The Comet, the company is currently in the process of purchasing Unit 74a on Stevenage high street which used to house a Waitrose supermarket.

Austin’s head office is currently located in Letchmore Road, while their arrangement office is at 21 High Street, and limousines and hearse fleet are stored in Wedgwood Gate.

The purchase will allow Austin’s to combine its three existing properties – its current head office in Letchmore Road, an arrangement office on the high street,  and a space where it stores its limousines and funeral fleet in Wedgwood gate –  and centralise its business.

It is thought that the move will take between 18-24 months to be finalised. 

The company’s managing director, Claire Austin, told the paper: “Firstly, it’s a shame that we lost Waitrose and I sympathise with everybody who thinks we should have another supermarket.

“I think a lot of people have this fear of funeral directors, much like will writing. People don’t want to talk about or see it. We’ve been here for 200 years.I’ve run Austin’s for 20 years, and it has been my mantra to try and move away from that taboo of funeral service, and to make our business more approachable and not as frightening.”