A DARLINGTON funeral director has taken a lease on premises in Newton Aycliffe in order to improve its service to bereaved families.

Whitehouse Funeral Service has moved into Surtees House, at Hilton Road, Newton Aycliffe after a long search for accommodation was resolved by North East Chartered Surveyors and Property Consultants Carver Commercial, of Darlington.

The new premises will be run alongside Whitehouse Funeral Service’s head office at Cockerton House, West Auckland Road, Darlington.

Director John Whitehouse said: “We had been looking for premises in Newton Aycliffe for some time in order to offer our growing number of clients in the town a more local service but we had been unable to find premises suitable for our needs. It is important for families to know that their nearest and dearest are being offered a very high standard of care as close as is possible to their homes at times of bereavement.

“We have had an excellent relationship with Carver Commercial for several years and they have helped us to identify other buildings in the past. They introduced us to Surtees House, which offers an ideal location for our funeral parlour.

Julie Wallin, Director of Carver Commercial, said: “We have worked with Whitehouse Funeral Service on a number of occasions and have a good rapport with them. I think we understand their very specific needs and are able to identify properties that are likely to be suitable for the sensitive service they provide.

“The premises were previously occupied by our clients On Tap Heating who originally purchased the property through ourselves some years ago. We were able to assist in gaining the necessary planning consents for a funeral parlour and smooth the way for Whitehouse Funeral Service to take a new lease.”

Funeral Director Bryan Shepherd will be based at Newton Aycliffe, supported by staff from Darlington, but the company expects that two new jobs will be created in the future.

John Whithouse said: “One shouldn’t really celebrate an upturn in our business because it comes with sadness for the families involved but we have been made very welcome in Newton Aycliffe and both the number of funerals we help to organise and our volume of pre-paid funeral plans, set up in association with Golden Charter, have increased since we moved into the town.”

Whitehouse Funeral Service can be contacted on 01325 482999 (Darlington) or 01325 318600 (Newton Aycliffe) and Carver Commercial can be reached on 01325 466945, or by visiting www.carvercommercial.co.uk