An experienced office administrator says she is relishing the caring, human side of her new role after she started working at a Nottinghamshire family funeral firm.
It is the first time that Carol Inquieti, who has taken up the role at Gillotts Funeral Directors in Nottingham Road, Eastwood, has ever worked in the funeral industry, having previously held positions in manufacturing, healthcare and the food sectors.
Her job at Gillotts, which operates five branches across Nottinghamshire and across the border in Derbyshire, includes dealing with the paperwork associated with all aspects of arranging and conducting funerals, from ordering coffins to booking cremations and burials.
She is also overseeing all of the charity donations collected before and during the funerals themselves to ensure that every penny gets to the right place.
But although she is enjoying the work, it is working with the families themselves, including taking them into the chapel of rest to see their loved ones, that she is finding particularly rewarding.
She said: “I’ve worked in admin for lots of different companies in different industries and although there has been some customer-facing work, it’s nothing like this.
“I never really thought before working at a funeral firm how much the job involves working with people and helping them at a time when they’ve lost a loved one, which is one of the most horrible things somebody can ever go through.
“Funerals are very complicated events and there are so many decisions that we have to help people make in a short timeframe. That’s why there is a caring side to this role, and it’s that which is giving me so much job satisfaction.”
Joanne Hutsby, a partner in Gillotts Funeral Directors, said: “There is a huge admin side to this industry and everything has to be done to ensure the highest standard of service for customers who are going through an incredibly hard time in their lives.
“That’s why Carol’s role is so important, and we’re also very pleased with the way in which she has instinctively shown the caring and human side to her nature in carrying out her duties.”