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Simon A. Truelove, Dip.FD. MANAGING DIRECTOR Simon was born in Sutton in 1955. He was educated at Aberdour Prep School and Epsom College. He lived in Banstead for the first thirty years of his life and worked in the family business during every school holidays from the age of thirteen onwards. After brief forays into the construction industry and the world of publishing, he was offered a job as a cub reporter on the Croydon Advertiser in 1975, but decided to join the family business instead. Simon has worked in all aspects of the funeral business and passed his Diploma in Funeral Directing in 1985, winning the Harold Rivett Award for having the highest marks for a London candidate. He became Managing Director in 1990. He has served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), as President of the European Group of Selected Independent Funeral Homes (SIFH) and has been President of the London Association of Funeral Directors (LAFD), as well as the President of the Croydon District of LAFD. He has served on the Executive Committees of both SIFH and LAFD for thirty years. He is a Trustee of both NAFD and LAFD and is Chairman of NAFD Services Ltd., the not for profit company established by the NAFD to hold and manage funds for pre-paid funeral plans. Simon has been happily married to Denise since 1984 and they have a daughter, Sophie. They have three dogs, a Labrador, a Jack Russell and a Shih Tzu, which they rescued whilst on holiday in Sicily, as well as a very old cat, who still rules the roost. Simon enjoys rural pursuits, including fly-fishing for trout. |
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David Truelove, BA. DIRECTOR David Truelove was born in Sutton in 1959. He was educated at Aberdour Prep School at Burgh Heath and Epsom College before achieving his BA in Economics at Leicester University. He has lived all of his life in Cheam and Banstead, where he currently resides. He has three children, a son named Sam and twin girls, Natasha and Yasmin. After a very successful career with city accountancy firm Morgan, Brown and Spofforth, he joined the company as our Finance Director in 1990. He enjoys squash and regularly plays at the RAC at Woodcote and Pall Mall. |
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Steve Lapper, Dip.FD. GENERAL MANAGER Steve was born in Lambeth in 1962. He was educated at Rutlish School. After a short period of employment in retail, he joined our Monumental Masonry Department in 1980. He moved to the funeral side of the business in 1983. He left our employ briefly in 1986, when he decided to try his hand at the automotive glazing business, but quickly realised his mistake and rejoined in 1987. Since then he has worked his way up the company to become our General Manager in 2008. Steve passed his Diploma in Funeral Directing in 1991. He is in charge of the day to day running of the business and is the very efficient and experienced right hand man to the Directors. His direct dial telephone number is: 020 8661 5814 and his email address is: steve.lapper@watltd.co.uk. |
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David Tremayne CREMATED REMAINS MANAGER David first met the Truelove family when he was fourteen and carried out some gardening work for Ray Truelove at his home in Banstead. We next came across him when he was fifteen and completed his work experience at our Head Office in Sutton. When he left school, he worked in retail for three years before deciding that it was not for him. He successfully applied to join the company in 2000. He was initially employed in the workshop before moving into the garage as a driver/bearer. He has now been promoted to join the team at Head Office and will shortly be commencing the new national course in Funeral Arranging and Administration. |
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Christine Langham ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Christine originally joined the Royal Air Force, where she rose to the rank of Leading Aircraft Woman, before she left to join the Ambulance Service, serving first in London and later in Surrey. She joined the company in 1979, working first at our Mitcham branch for seven years before moving to our Wallington branch. Six years later, she joined the team at Head Office. Many of the Langham family have worked for the company. Christine’s husband was our Monumental Masonry Department Manager, her father-in-law was a funeral director, her mother-in-law was our bookkeeper, her sister-in-law was a branch manager and her sister-in-law’s husband was a driver/bearer. As Administration Manager, Christine uses her meticulous administration skills in handling of all the copious paperwork regarding each funeral with great efficiency. Christine’s direct dial telephone number is: 020 8661 5805 and her email address is: christine.langham@watltd.co.uk. |
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Tom Lemin, Cert.FAA. DONATIONS MANAGER Tom first joined the company when he left school in 1972. He was a trainee in our workshop, but quickly decided that being a coffin maker was not for him and left after nine months. He rejoined the company in 1985 as a driver/bearer. In 1990, he emigrated to Australia, but found it was not to his liking, so he returned to the UK and the company later in the same year and has been with us ever since. Tom has worked his way up the business and is now our Donations Manager and is responsible for the administration of the many charitable donations we receive on behalf on our clients. He is a qualified funeral arranger, having gained his Certificate in Funeral Arranging and Administration in 2007. Tom’s direct dial number is: 020 8661 5819 and his email address is: thomas.lemin@watltd.co.uk. |
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Paul Martyn, Cert.FAA. ADMINISTRATION and HEALTH and SAFETY MANAGER When Paul first left school, he joined the Royal Navy as a marine engineer, but he soon discovered that he did not like being so far from home and left after a year. He then had a very varied career, mainly in transport, including ten years as a driving instructor (which comes in very useful when we test the driving skills of potential driver/bearers), before settling down at Truelove’s in 1996. He was originally employed as a driver/bearer, but due to his obvious abilities, he has received a number of promotions and is now Administration Manager at our Head Office. Paul has many responsibilities, but is mainly concerned with ensuring that all of the funeral instructions we receive are processed meticulously to result in perfect funerals for our clients. He is also our Health & Safety Manager. Paul is a qualified funeral arranger, having gained his Certificate in Funeral Arranging and Administration from the London Association of Funeral Directors in 2007. Paul’s direct dial telephone number is: 020 8661 5806 and his email address is: paul.martyn@watltd.co.uk. |
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Joseph Tinnirello, Dip.FD. REPATRIATIONS MANAGER Joe was born in Sicily in 1963. After completing his National Service, he moved to the UK in 1987 and joined the company as a driver/bearer. Through the years, he has received a number of promotions and has risen through the company to become our Repatriations Manager. Obviously, Joe speaks fluent Italian, which is very useful, as a large number of the repatriations we handle are from the large Italian community in the area. He is also very knowledgeable regarding the exacting legal requirements for repatriation to Italy, as well as the slightly less exacting procedures for the rest of the world. Joe passed his Diploma in Funeral Directing in 1997. For any enquiries regarding repatriation to or from anywhere in the world, please ask Joe. Joe’s direct dial number is: 020 8661 5804 and his email address is: joseph.tinnirello@watltd.co.uk. |
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Paul Shackell, Cert.FAA. FUNERAL PLANS MANAGER Paul was brought up in Dorking, but now lives in Ewell. After a varied career in different aspects of customer services, he joined the company as a driver/bearer in 2007. His abilities were quickly recognised and he was promoted to join the management team at Head Office, where he is now our Truelove Funeral Plans Manager. He is a qualified funeral arranger, having gained his Certificate in Funeral Arranging and Administration from the London Association of Funeral Directors in 2008. He has also been a Civilian Instructor with the Air Training Corps (ATC) since 2010 and is their local BTEC Officer, Duke of Edinburgh Officer and their Health, Safety and Fire Officer. Please contact Paul for any help you may require in arranging a Truelove Funeral Plan. Paul’s direct dial telephone number is: 020 8661 5808 and his email address is: paul.shackell@watltd.co.uk. |
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