Over the last 40 years, Hunnaball Family Funeral Group have built up an enviable reputation directing funerals across Essex and Suffolk. With 14 branches and 75 staff, they are now the largest independent funeral firm in East Anglia.
The Hunnaball family pride themselves on being innovators and leaders in the profession, so when the time came to upgrade their funeral fleet the natural choice was Superior UK Automotive Ltd and their stunning Pilato Mercedes Hearses.
At NFE 2019, Saul Hunnaball, 2nd generation of the firm, had his first glimpse of a Polaris hearse and he knew it was something very special. “As a family we love cars”, said Saul, “when I saw the Polaris hearse on the Superior UK stand at the NFE show I said it would be really lovely to have one of those – it just had that wow factor!”.
When Saul decided to upgrade his fleet he contacted Kevin Smith, Managing Director of Superior UK, and the build of two bespoke Polaris hearses was set in motion. The Hunnaball Polaris hearses were delivered in April this year, the first in the UK in brilliant silver and also the first to feature starry sky LED lights.
A Hunnaball funeral in East Anglia is instantly recognisable, they are the only firm in the area with a silver fleet and the introduction of two brilliant silver Polaris hearses has made quite an impact.
“The first time we used our new hearses we were bursting with pride and we have felt the same at every funeral since”, said Saul, “they are beautiful cars, admired by everyone who sees them and our customers feel they have given their loved one the very best”.
Customers have always been the heart of the Hunnaballs business, the team go above and beyond to give the very best service and take care of the community they serve. In fact, during the Coronavirus pandemic, Saul volunteered to work as part of the Excess Death Management Committee.
“So many services were closed,” said Saul “we pulled together to help manage the devastating impact the pandemic was having on our communities and under extremely difficult circumstances for us all”.
Saul added, “We as an industry are pretty quiet and operate under the radar, however, what we have all gone through over the last two years has highlighted that the funeral industry is an emergency service too”.
Dedication to supporting customers is a key reason the Hunnaball family appreciate Superior UK as a business, “Kevin and the the team at Superior deliver a service that is second to none, always ensuring we are beyond happy at every stage of the process” said Saul, “Kevin is a family man, professional, personable and never pushy at all – which we really respect.”
“We have known the Smith family for about 20 years now and bought a Binz Mercedes hearse in 2008”, said Saul, “back then they were the most stylish hearses around, so we were pretty excited to have that, but these Polaris hearses are on another level”.
Kevin Smith commented, “It was such a pleasure to deliver these hearses – to be there when the vehicles are unloaded from the covered transporter and see the reaction of our valued customers was a total delight, the smiles said it all”.
The family were so delighted with their Polaris hearses that they decided, just weeks later, to expand their Pilato fleet further. “We have just ordered two Lyra limousines in brilliant silver to match our hearses”, said Saul, “the vehicles will be a perfect match”.
Hunnaball Family Funeral Group has much to celebrate in the year ahead; Trevor Hunnaball, Saul’s father and founder of the firm, will turn 80 this year and 2022 will mark his 65th year in the funeral industry. Also this year, the company is expanding both their business and their fleet with a new branch in Colchester and, of course, the arrival of two beautiful new Lyra limousines.