Award-winning, family owned and operated funeral directors A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, has today celebrated the opening of two new funeral homes in Retford and Tuxford.
As a fifth-generation family business, A.W. Lymn is celebrating an exciting new chapter in its century long history by holding a community open day to invite families into its new funeral homes on Thursday, August 13. It follows the acquisition of established north Nottinghamshire business G.D. Hall funeral directors, the family firm’s fourth acquisition in three years.
Matthew Lymn Rose, fifth generation and Managing Director of A.W. Lymn, said: “This is a key milestone in our 120-year history and we are thrilled to be opening the doors to our two new funeral homes in Retford and Tuxford today.
“We’d love for families in the community to come and say hello, meet the team who will be headed up by experienced funeral directors Sam and Kirk, and further explore the premises. What they can expect is the same fantastic service they will have experienced under Graham’s steady stewardship.
“As one of the largest independent funeral businesses in the UK, A.W. Lymn is synonymous across Nottinghamshire with quality, personal service and excellence in all aspects of funeral care and we take our responsibilities seriously when it comes to upholding our high level of service and family values.”
The move is part of A.W. Lymn’s strategic plan to widen and deepen its footprint across the East Midlands, with the acquisition of Retford and Tuxford’s G.D. Hall coming swiftly after it acquired Serene Funeral Planning in early 2025, Staffordshire’s Hammerwich Cemetery and Crematorium in 2024 and Radcliffe-on-Trent’s M.A. Mills in 2023.
It has a 150-strong team of experienced funeral directors, with G.D. Hall staff and fleet in Retford and Tuxford being brought into the fold.
Graham Hall, who has deep roots in Tuxford following a varied career across mining, 28 years of ownership of a newsagents in the area and 17 years at the helm of G.D. Hall, said: “My roots in the community go deep and as a result it was of fundamental importance that we chose the right people to acquire G.D. Hall.
“A.W. Lymn meets all of our values of honesty, integrity, loyalty commitment and sensitivity. I have loved all of the challenges my career at G.D. Hall has presented and this is an exciting new chapter for which I wish the A.W. Lymn team all the best. Change can be hard, and while I will continue to be a familiar face in celebrant duties and as a conductor to support the transition, I know our community is in good hands with Matthew and the A.W. Lymn team.”
A.W. Lymn expects that it will conduct around 300 funerals a year in the north Nottinghamshire area following the new openings, creating a new A.W. Lymn sub area of Mansfield. Established in 1907 in Nottingham when Arthur William Lymn conducted his first funeral, today the business is known as A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, now operating 27 funeral homes across the Midlands in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and one in Leicestershire, as well as Hammerwich Crematorium and Cemetery in Staffordshire, employing more than 150 people across the business.