A FUNERAL service which was set up by a former doctor less than a year ago has been named as one of the best in the country.

Full Circle Funerals in Guiseley has become the first funeral service operating in the Wharfedale, Harrogate, Leeds and Bradford areas to be included in the prestigious Good Funeral Guide, which is a definitive list of the UK’s best funeral companies.

The select list, which describes the company as one of the best new progressive undertakers in the country, consists of less than 100 funeral directors throughout England and Scotland.

The company was launched in September 2016 by former doctor Sarah Jones, who had previously worked in general and vascular surgery in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

She said: "Achieving a listing in the Good Funeral Guide is fantastic news and reassures our clients that they will receive an exceptional standard of service, at a very difficult time in their lives. Ultimately, The Good Funeral Guide’s assessors ask themselves whether they would trust a funeral service with their loved ones, and being included in the guide is one of the highest endorsements we can receive."

She said the company's ethos was about offering choice and flexibility and empowering people to create meaningful funerals by giving them the information and time that they need.

As part of its stringent accreditation process, assessors from the guide visit funeral services to meet the teams working there, as well as inspecting premises and facilities. The assessors also observe how staff interact with clients and care for their loved ones when they are organising funerals.

The Good Funeral Guide praised Full Circle for dispensing with the trappings of the old patriarchal style of funeral directing. It applauded the company’s transparent pricing and online estimator to help calculate final costs. It says the company is unlike any other funeral director business in the area.

Earlier this year the company became the first funeral service outside London to acquire a state of the art electric hearse.