A LOCAL funeral director group remains in the hands of its founding family 174 years after it started out.

The Walter C Parson Group has named John Ware, 25 as its newest director and shareholder, the seventh generation of the family to help run the firm.

Having started work in the business washing the fleet of vehicles at the age of 14, John progressed to managing director’s assistant to his father Stephen Ware in 2014.

In between, he gained a first class degree in business management from the University of Surrey and spent a short time working in London for a hotel consultancy firm, before rejoining the family business.

John said: ’I am delighted to have been appointed as a director and shareholder of Walter C Parson and ensure that the business remains in the family for a seventh generation.

’Our focus remains on ensuring that the families we look after are offered a first class service that would be acceptable to a member of our own family.

’As the business continues to grow, we invest heavily in the training and qualification of our staff to ensure that this same level of service is offered across all ten of our offices.

’I look forward to seeing the company grow even further in the future.’