Helping the bereaved through tragedy

You joined Rowland Brothers International (RBI) in 2011 – how has the company, and the industry as a whole, changed since then?

For the readers that know me, they will understand that I joined Rowland Brothers International in March 2011 under extremely difficult circumstances for the Rowland family. My first year was difficult and was more of a support capacity. Having come from a successful career in the emergency travel insurance assistance environment, and having been an assistance company client of RBI, I had in mind some areas where I could assist and contribute immediate positive changes from my own experience as a client.

I was able to slowly implement changes to communication and updates on RBI case management with its clients. The environment was extremely paper-based with hard-copy files which had limited information entered into a bespoke case-management system.

Implementing change requires buy-in from existing team members and this was a challenge. I took small steps, and with the help and support of some amazing team members, we were slowly able to improve the communication aspects of our work, implement a new bespoke casemanagement system that logged all of the communication on a case and reduced the amount of hard-copy paperwork required for a file.

Communication with our clients and providers improved, and the understanding of effective communication and daily updates was embedded in the daily processes of case management.

Implementation of quality assurance questionnaires on a case-by-case basis with our overseas funeral agents improved the individual communication on each case, providing vital information for us to pass on to the receiving-family appointed funeral director in the home country. This has assisted tremendously with the information required by the UK Coroner and equivalent authorities on our global repatriations, hence improving the overall communication and information for every repatriation case we manage.

Implementation of educational sessions with both our own teams, our clients, embassies and funeral directors has greatly improved the understanding of the complexities involved in the repatriation of mortal/cremated remains on a global basis, and assisted in the effective communication with the families we serve.

There is still a lot of work being done on continuously providing educational sessions, and each time these are done we can contribute to a better global understanding of country rules and regulations, documentation and complexities involved throughout the repatriation.

In 2019 RBI gained its BSI ISO9001 accreditation for the Quality of Management for its repatriation services. A lot of work goes into achieving such a standard and it demonstrates our continued drive to improve the quality of our work, of which we are extremely proud. We are subject to annual external audits by BSI auditors, and this keeps us focused on providing a high-quality service to our clients.

Have recent conflicts around the world affected how you operate, and if so, how?

For decades RBI has been managing repatriations from countries in conflict. These cases are managed on a case-bycase basis. They are complex to manage, and the timeline involved may be greater than the norm due to the circumstances, these have not affected how we operate, they are simply more complicated.

How do you deal with the different rules, traditions, and regulations of each country when planning funerals and burials?

We work with our overseas funeral agents with whom we have had long-standing working relationships for over 50 years. Rules, traditions and regulations are communicated clearly to the families, so they know from the start of the arrangements any complexities involved.

One potential logistical challenge of a funeral repatriation is obtaining a casket to transport the remains in – how do you go about this?

Repatriation of mortal remains takes place in a basic transportation coffin. The coffin is generally changed by the family-appointed funeral director once the deceased has arrived in the country of destination for a coffin chosen by the family prior to the funeral taking place.

The visuals of the transportation coffins vary from country to country, but they are for transportation purposes only. These are supplied by the overseas funeral director or RBI if we are managing an outgoing case from the UK to abroad.

Your work often sees you responding to tragedies that have befallen people travelling overseas – how do you work to support their bereaved relatives back home?

Effective communication and daily updates with the families are vital. This provides great comfort in that they are updated every step of the way until their loved one is delivered to their appointed family funeral directors in the country of destination.

Questions are answered, realistic expectations are given, and any changes communicated immediately. The result of this effective communication is reflected in the numerous complimentary emails our team receive from families we have served.

If a repatriation is taking place back to our location in the UK and the family have appointed RBI to manage the local funeral, the family benefit from our aftercare bereavement support which we provide free of charge, and the families can remain with us for as long or as little as they wish.

Looking to the future, what’s next for Rowland Brothers International?

RBI will continue with its work to provide educational sessions for all sectors with the aim of understanding the complexities involved in the repatriation of mortal/ cremated remains on a global basis. We will continue to review all our processes on an annual basis and implement change where needed and required to improve the services we offer to our clients and the families we serve, maintaining a quality service.

We also plan to expand our client base to include more global contracts and new industry sectors with a need for the services we provide and continue to be a source of information, support and knowledge to the various funeral associations for which we provide a help-line service for anything related to funeral repatriations.