A direct cremation is a cremation with no service and no mourners present; the ashes are returned to the family later.

It’s the cheapest way to dispose of a dead person in the UK, and it’s grown fast since the pandemic.

According to SunLife’s latest Cost of Dying report, the average direct cremation is £1,597 (2024), compared with £3,980 for an attended cremation and £4,285 for the “average funeral” (with burial being the most expensive).

Before Covid, University of Bath researchers found direct cremations accounted for just 3–6% of cremation funerals; with pandemic restrictions in 2020, they estimate around 14% of all deaths were direct cremations (≈100,000 people). Many families realised later they still wanted a ceremony.

The Guardian recently suggested from industry coverage and trade commentary that direct cremations were now at ~20% of UK funerals, reflecting a structural, not temporary, shift.

Cost pressure is the obvious driver (see the SunLife figures above). But there’s a second engine: heavy direct-to-consumer marketing of prepaid plans to older people.

Pure Cremation, one of the UK's biggest providers was recently given a market value of £700 million. In 2024 they  spent over £10m alone on TV adverts dominating weekday daytime TV networks. Their TV adverts specifically target elderly parents and grandparents with messages of how they can cut the cost of their death as a liability for their loved one. 

There’s also a digital shift.

Dignity (the UK's second largest Funeral Director) has recently acquired online “end-of-life” firm Farewill. It underscores how large funeral groups are building direct, online sales funnels to sort out people's wills, probate and direct cremation funerals after death - all at the click of a button or by dialling one phone number and getting it all sorted easily.

With a direct cremation, a national provider like Pure Cremation or Farewill removes the deceased in a "private ambulance". The deceased is placed in a basic coffin with a barcode and stored in a regional refrigeration warehouse.

Crematoria around the country, whether council or privately owned, compete with each other offering spare cremation capacity as unattended direct cremation slots (normally first thing in the day). The provider then secures an unattended cremation slot (often miles from where the deceased lived and died), cremates the correct barcoded coffin, and returns the ashes later to the family (in a gift box with the same barcode), often weeks later.

For some families this is fine; for others—especially where the deceased bought a plan without telling anyone—it can feel like the chance to say goodbye has been taken away. There is no washing or care of the deceased, no dressing of them and no viewing by relatives.   No one is attending the cremation apart from staff . No hearse, no music or service. A recent article in The Guardian captured this starkly from a relative: “the delivery man arrived with the ashes in a gift bag.”

Positives: affordability; simplicity for people who want “no fuss”; and the flexibility to hold a separate memorial later. Bath University's research suggests the choice isn’t always just about money.

Negatives: families can be excluded from ceremony and ritual at the very point they need it; distance and opacity (where and when did the cremation happen?) can complicate grief; and much of the marketing aimed at older people, guilting them to save the cost of their death for their family, raises ethical questions about informed choice.

The Human need for a Funeral: Across cultures and for centuries, humans have gathered, spoken names, told stories, and marked the moment of a person's death. We still need that. The format may be changing—but the function doesn’t.

If you are involved in networking at speakers clubs, in conversations, on social media or if you have a funeral celebrant website, make it crystal clear that ceremony is for the living. It gives structure, stories, community and a shared goodbye. Some families will be perfectly fine with “no service”; many won’t—until they realise it later. Use the University of Bath’s findings and SunLife’s data to keep this factual, not emotional-arm-twisting.

Consider offering yourself up as a speaker at a local group, with a topic like "Direct Cremations - why families should talk first" or "Why ceremony matters". Organisations like your local University of the 3rd Age (U3A), Probus, Women's Institute (WI), Townswomen's Guild (TG), Rotary Club, Lions Club or The Odd Fellows (Friendly Society).

Direct cremation doesn’t mean “no ceremony ever”; it means no ceremony yet. Offer clear, bookable packages:

• Memorial/celebration of life (venue or home; 30 minutes; bespoke script)
• Ashes interment/scattering ceremonies (similar to a graveside funeral service with words, and keepsake ideas)

What you will need:

• Publish guide prices and timeframes so families can act quickly after ashes arrive
• Have a sizeable portable Bluetooth speaker so you can provide music 

More families will search online, themselves, after a direct cremation.

What you will need: 

• A lean one-page website + Google Business Profile (Maps, reviews, “memorial celebrant” keywords)
• A Facebook page with pinned packages and testimonials.
• Website pages or social media posts targeting “memorial celebrant near me”, “ashes scattering service”, “celebration of life”

Many smaller and local funeral directors are too responding to the rise in direct cremations by also offering this as part of their range.

So consider partnering with funeral directors and direct-cremation providers who welcome transparent add-on memorials. Create and share a one-pager flier they can give families with ashes: “Options for marking a life—this week, next month, or on a special date.” Keep the tone non-judgmental.

Review how you can truly add value: 

• Consider how you would give a short, meaningful memorial service with minimal logistics.
• Outdoor and community-space rituals (consider your options for permissions, weather & sound)
• Family-led elements - be more creative with ideas like letters, objects, music, photo moments
• Sensitive story-gathering when there’s been no funeral (closing the gap). This is where your training and experience of working with bereaved families comes into its own, you add most value to families and you create life-long fans and online testimonials.

With the rise of direct cremations from 5% to 20% of all disposals of the dead, it is natural to ask the question "how high will the demand for direct cremations go and is the role of the funeral celebrant dead?"

Here are some personal thoughts:

• 80% of deaths still lead to a funeral service (so don't despair).;
• 80% of these funeral services are led by a funeral celebrant and the number of minister-led funeral services continues to decline. 
• The day of the easy and identical "cut and paste" funeral celebrant is gone. Funeral Celebrants must now be well trained and skilled in writing and delivering personal and unique funeral services. 
• Funeral Directors are now rightly demanding better, more skilled and well trained funeral celebrants who can build trust and add real value for their bereaved families. 
• Networking with Funeral Directors is still important but reaching out directly to families online and in person is becoming increasingly important too.

If you want to learn more about what is involved in becoming a quality Funeral Celebrant who can add real value to bereaved families, and to see if you have got what it takes to become a successful funeral celebrant, then enrol on our FREE introductory and discovery module here.

If you want to learn more about training to become a certificated and accredited funeral celebrant then learn more here.