Funeral directors to go green with electric fleet

One of the East Midlands’ largest independent funeral directors has made a major commitment to tackling climate change by making its non-ceremonial fleet electric.

A.W. Lymn, which operates 27 funeral homes throughout Nottinghamshire and South Derbyshire and has the largest Rolls-Royce funeral fleet in the world, decided to make the emission-busting move after taking part in Nottingham City Council’s Electric Van Experience (EVE) in June 2021.

Now, the company is in discussion with Mercedes to replace the majority of its non-ceremonial vehicles with electric models, starting with two electric vans.

To accommodate the new electric fleet, A.W. Lymn has recently installed a charging station at its Nottingham headquarters.

Pete Clarson, commercial director at A.W. Lymn, said: “Our fleet of cars is at the centre of everything we do at Lymns, whether that be as part of our traditional or bespoke hearses, or the private ambulances on site, we use our vehicles daily and thereby cover a lot of miles. Therefore, it’s important that we make every effort to reduce our carbon footprint and electric vehicles are a great first step in the right direction.”

He added: “Having taken part in the EVE last year, it certainly improved our view on electric vehicles and confirmed our thoughts of introducing them into our fleet. We predominantly used them for the stonemasons and ground maintenance, but now we’re looking to purchase electric private ambulances.

“We’re very excited to start this transition, especially during a time when more people are looking for eco-funerals, it allows us to harness better use of resources in a more efficient way that will bring benefits to the families we care for in the region. Moving forward, we plan to continue to look for ways we can introduce green initiatives as a business in everything that we do.”