Nottinghamshire funeral company expands its profile by buying another county funeral business
Nottinghamshire funeral company AW Lymn has deepened its footprint in the north of the county by buying an established funeral directors in Bassetlaw.
The fifth-generation family business is one of the largest independent funeral companies in the UK.
And now it has brought two branches of GD Hall funeral directors, of Retford and Tuxford, into its fold.
In line with their trusted heritage and reputation, the directors at AW Lymn have been working to a strategic plan to widen and deepen their company’s footprint across the East Midlands in recent years, with the acquisition of GD 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 MA Mills in 2023.
Matthew Lymn Rose, managing director, said this latest expansion was part of a finely-mapped plan to deliver the well-known AW Lymn level of quality to families searching for, expecting and deserving personal, traditional and excellent funeral care in Nottinghamshire.
He said: “We’re thrilled to have been trusted with taking forward GD Hall’s two established branches by owners Graham and Diane, who have led their business with integrity, compassion and an extremely high level of diligence since 2009 when they first opened.
"It always has to be the right ‘meeting of minds’ when we look to acquire a new location for our business and that is exactly how it unfolded with the Halls.
"Their commitment to doing the best and right thing for each and every family they serve chimed precisely with our ethos at AW Lymn and we knew we wanted to take their business and forward into our next chapter, protecting and honouring the Halls’ legacy in Tuxford and Retford.
“The funeral industry is evolving rapidly and, concerningly, currently is less regulated than many other industries.
"In such a context, being able to offer our generationally-trusted services as far afield as we can is a driving force for our business.
"We hear of people being misadvised, wrongly directed and left to grieve in ways which are damaging to our collective mental health.
"We know that our experienced and kind team of funeral directors, which is now more than 150 strong, are best placed to support people when they are in their darkest hours and in need of practical, care-driven and unfalteringly excellent funeral care.
“By deepening our branch network into north Nottinghamshire even further, we hope to support more people with the trusted AW Lymn ‘way’ and ensure every person who needs funeral advice and support in and around Tuxford and Retford know they can count on us to be there when it matters most.”
GD Hall consists of two branches, a fleet of Mercedes E Class in black, two estate cars, and a team of casual bearers.
The company conducts around 100 funerals a year, and over the course of 2026 it is AW Lymn’s intention to bring the branches to AW Lymn standard, and re-brand them to match.
The business’s new branch in Worksop is due to open in late 2026, and the directors’ plan is that this office will run alongside these two new branches, to make a new AW Lymn sub area of Mansfield.
Graham Hall, who established his funeral business in 2009 after a varied career running a newsagency, as a magistrate and formerly as a senior mining surveyor, added: “We’re really pleased to be handing over the reins of our business to Matthew and the AW Lymn family.
"For me, it was always going to be a family firm who took forward our family firm because in our industry, people are at the heart of all we do.
"It was clear when I first met Matthew that he understood this and in fact it actually felt like we’d known each other for a long time even though we’d just met.
“We’re delighted about AW Lymn’s commitment to keeping our legacy going in Tuxford and Retford and know our business and the customers we serve, are in the safest of hands with Matthew and his team.”