POPULAR funeral director Robert Lambert will hang up his top hat and tailed coat for the last time tomorrow as he retires from Briggs and Duxbury Ltd after 44 years.
Robert was 15 when he began his apprenticeship as a trainee joiner/undertaker, working alongside his uncles, Harold and Arthur Duxbury.
"Uncle Harold told me then to look after everyone as if they were your own family as one day they would be, and I have always tried to follow that advice," said Robert.
Robert has no retirement plans, but says he will probably spend part of his time in Scotland and will maintain a link with the funeral trade by helping to groom the horses for Sarah Bower's horse-drawn funeral carriages.
Robert's successor, Mark Williams, originally trained at Windle's Funeral Services, but set up his own valeting business before serving as a prison officer for 12 years. He was looking to return to the funeral business when Robert contacted him and says he is honoured to be taking over from such a well-known figure.
The full article contains 183 words and appears in n/a newspaper.
