Fifth generation Funeral Director joins century old local family business

Brighton and Hove’s oldest firm of independent family funeral directors, Bungard & Sons Limited, has recently been joined by Richard Whittle thereby establishing the family business’s fifth generation. The business was founded in 1906 by Richard’s great, great grandfather and has become a cornerstone of Hove for over 105 years.

The second son of Managing Director, James Whittle, Richard, has joined at a particularly exciting time for the business with plans to update and modernise the business and premises. Being a small family business, Bungard & Sons Limited is in the perfect position to quickly adapt to new demands which many larger businesses may find difficult. James is the son of Margaret Whittle the daughter of James Bungard (2nd generation). Margaret is also the cousin of 3rd generation Company Director Rupert Bungard.

Richard is also acutely aware of the many challenges facing today’s small businesses with clients demands and expectations regularly changing and the need to constantly adapt in the local competitive environment. Therefore more focus will also be placed on pre-payment funeral plans with Golden Charter as they are already proving a successful and important channel for the future of the business.

Richard, 31, said;
“I always wanted to come into the family business – it was just a case of when as opposed to if. In spite of our heritage and reputation we have to keep moving forward to update and reinvent the business on an ongoing basis, something that each of the preceding generations of the family has done to keep Bungards at the forefront of local funeral directing.”