Funeral Partners acquires Box Bros in Blackpool

Funeral Partners has announced its latest acquisition of Box Bros, a family-run funeral business that has served Blackpool for more than 100 years. 

Founded in 1915 by Thomas Edwin Box, the business’ decision to join Funeral Partners’ national network is intended to secure its long-term future and preserve its local reputation. The company, which originally specialised in transport before expanding into funerals in the 1920s, has been run by four generations of the Box family.

The business became known as Box Bros Funeral Directors under the leadership of the founder’s grandson, Trevor Box, who joined in the 1940s. It was among the first in the UK to offer private ambulance use for bereaved families and international repatriation services.

In recent years, the firm has been managed by Trevor’s daughter, Susan Haslem, and her husband, Peter, who drew on previous careers in nursing and the fire service to modernise operations. The couple decided to sell the business to ensure its continuity after their retirement.

Funeral Partners was chosen to take over the company to protect its heritage and retain all staff across its sites in Blackpool and Poulton-le-Fylde.

Haslem said: “Our daughters have their own career aspirations outside of the funeral profession. By joining Funeral Partners this was a way to ensure the Box Bros name in the community and in the funeral profession kept going for years to come – which was something my father desperately wanted.

“We also wanted to make sure that the team had job security. We have a great team, many of whom we have known for a long time as friends, and others who have become friends over the years, so knowing their futures were secure and that there would be continuity in the team for our families, was a massive reason for us choosing Funeral Partners.”

Susan and Peter Haslem will now step back from day-to-day operations. Leadership of the business passes to diary and logistics manager David Potts and funeral manager Andrew Whitaker, who have joined the existing team led by office manager Kim Bonar and long-serving funeral director Adrian Anderson, who has been with Box Bros for more than 30 years.

Potts and Whitaker previously worked together at Layton Funeral Directors, a business founded by Potts’s parents, Jenny and the late Mick Potts, who maintained close ties with Box Bros over many years.

Sam Kershaw, chief executive of Funeral Partners, added: “I’d like to thank Susan and Peter for putting their trust in us and I am delighted that their experience during the acquisition process was so positive.

“This has strengthened our presence in the North West of England. With the strength of the team we have in place I know we can continue the remarkable legacy their family have built up in Blackpool and along the Fylde coast as part of the Funeral Partners family.”