"It's a privilege" - new funeral director joins growing Exeter business

A highly-skilled funeral director has joined the ranks of a well-established Devon business which has a combined 90 years’ experience in looking after local families.

Shoobridge Funeral Services, which has branches in Honiton, Exmouth and Exeter, is delighted to secure Michaela Greenslade who qualified in funeral directing more than a decade ago.

Michaela, who is based in the Exeter office at Polsloe Bridge, said she relished the opportunity to join the accomplished team.

She said: “Caring for families is undoubtedly the most important part of my job, and it is right at the heart of Shoobridge Funeral Services’ core beliefs. I have the privilege of being entrusted with people’s arrangements at very difficult times in their lives.”

Michaela said she had wanted to be a funeral director from a very young age and her dream never changed right the way through from school.

“I was fortunate enough to be offered the opportunity to make it a reality in 2010 and I then spent ten and a half years with a local company, gaining my qualifications and expanding my knowledge and experience.”

She achieved her Diploma in Funeral Directing with the NAFD in 2012. She went on to complete her Level 3 Diploma in Grief and Bereavement Counselling with Stonebridge College in 2018 and qualified as an embalmer with the British Institute of Embalming in 2019 with Salisbury College of Funeral Sciences for her Theory and Mr Ray Hood Associates in Bristol for practical assessments and final exam.

“My aim is to try to take the fear of the unknown concerning death and bereavement away – or at least ease it a little bit. We are here to help support, guide and educate people from all walks of life who find themselves suffering a bereavement or simply curious and wish to plan for the future.

“Over the years that I have been fortunate enough to be in this profession, I have worked alongside people at the hardest times of their lives. It is humbling to walk alongside them at a time of sadness and loss but it is a privilege to make the task of arranging a funeral a bit easier.”

Established in Honiton in 1993, Shoobridge Funeral Services is a family-run business which has expanded to Exeter and Exmouth in the past ten years. Penny, Terry and Paul Shoobridge have worked with many families locally and nationally, offering support, advice and guidance from start to finish, and embracing the ‘Celebration of Life’ ceremony as funeral services continue to evolve. Serving their local communities across Exeter and East Devon, they have built a reputation on trust and a first-class, highly personalised service. For more information, visit their website at www.shoobridgefuenrals.co.uk