Family funeral firm looks to future after more than 300 years in town

Starting as both a builders and undertakers, Austin's has played a pivotal part in making Stevenage what it is today. The construction branch of the business may have been sold in the late 70s, but the legacy still remains, as Austin's is credited for building homes and other properties in both the old and newer areas of the town.

A picture of an Austin's horse-drawn hearse, taken in 1902 (Image: Austin's)

With a rich and longstanding history embedded within the community of Stevenage and surrounding areas - which has grown exponentially in the last few decades - the firm's managing director Claire Austin, who is the 10th generation of the Austin family to work for the firm, spoke to the Comet about how the job has changed throughout the pandemic, and what the future has in store.

"My father John identified in the early 80s that we needed a crematorium in Stevenage, because the only ones we could use were Garston and Luton. Because Stevenage was - and still is - growing, we needed it."

After working to get the council on side to establish a facility a little closer to home, John decided to foot the work himself - establishing Harwood Park in 1997.

This was a forward-thinking move, as Austin's now sees around 80 per cent of people opting for a cremation as opposed to a burial.

Austins' current fleet of vehicles at Harwood Park Crematorium on the outskirts of Stevenage (Image: Austin's)

"People don't necessarily want a memorial to go back to, they don't want to worry about tending a grave.

"We haven't got a problem with grave space here, but nationally there is an issue with lack of space - and people think it's a more modern end of life solution for your loved ones.

"We've got grounds at Harwood Park with loads of memorial options. People are - rightly or wrongly - moving away from churches, people don't attend so much. To have a service at a crematorium, obviously you can still have a religious service, is more popular."

Austin's has had a front seat over the last three centuries when it comes to observing changing trends and, as Claire explained, families and friends are now much more inclined to regard funerals as a celebration of life than a mournful goodbye.

"Of course, there are tragic deaths and those under very sad circumstances - which are difficult for people to celebrate - but generally speaking, people want to celebrate the life of their loved one. That's why it's been so hard over the last 18 months; the fact that people couldn't have wakes, or receptions after funerals.

"That was probably the thing that people missed more - not so much not being able to have many attend the funeral, but not being able to gather afterwards, because that's very important and very much part of the bereavement process.

"It's a healing, really, that people haven't been able to do as much as they can now."

Carol Drury, Amanda Paine and Janine Northwood, funeral administrators at Austins' Stevenage High Street branch (Image: Austin's)

Livestreaming services have acted as a remedy to this pandemic-fuelled problem, and are now a more common fixture of funeral services, albeit one Austin's has offered for a number of years.

Claire added that ever-evolving technology will play a big part in funerals of the future for the people of Stevenage.

"It's been great to be able to help people. Obviously at the height of the pandemic, everything was done over the phone or email - it just makes you realise that I don't know how we would've done it if this happened 20 or 30 years ago without modern technology!"

In keeping up with the times, Claire hopes that more people will be aware of their impact on the town and the services they provide as they move their premises - set to open next summer - to the centre of the Old Town.

"We'll be moving our whole head office facility to the old Waitrose building, and we're going to have new chapels of rest, new service chapel - it will be a great facility for families, and in a great location.

"There are obviously people that are moving into town all the time. Stevenage is still growing, and there'll be people who have no idea of our history, or don't even venture to the Old Town, maybe. I think there is a general awareness as far as the history is concerned, but it's always there for people to read about!