James Brown and Sons Funeral Directors

Short review: Excellent service, genuinely caring staff and the best place to go for the worst needs. Lilian is a superstar and will not steer you wrong.------Before needing to, I never for a second considered what really needs to happen when someone dies. I also never considered what funeral director one might use, the practicalities or reasons.On the day my wife died, I briefly tried to search for a few local funeral directors close to home and compare, but I was in no state to do so and simply opted for JB & Sons as they were closest.Hand on heart, I can say I was so incredibly fortunate to land on them as they were the absolute best people to take care of us. Specifically I want to mention Lilian, our funeral arranger who held my hand every step of the way with genuine empathy, honest advice and heartfelt care, I honestly cannot sing her praises enough - as awful as her line of work is, she made it very easy, was very patient and so gentle as we dealt with every painful step.From our first phone call, she told me what to do, gave me space to call back to have my wife collected on our terms. The gentlemen who arrived at our home were solemn professionals who treated us all with absolute respect, took time to make sure we knew what they were doing and what happened next.Throughout the process, Lilian (and Janine) took care of my wife and of us beautifully, nothing was too much trouble for them - even when I completely changed the funeral arrangements a few days in, they were nothing but supportive.They do not try to push un-necessary extras or additional services that you later look back on and feel swindled by. Everything was at our pace and our choice, we asked for advice and received appropriate, sensitive guidance with full freedom of what we chose.The funeral itself was conducted brilliantly. The undertakers were smart, professional and courteous, absolute gentlemen who took great care of us all and again were very patient and happy to go with our flow.You will not be led wrong here. I'd recommend them to anyone and will sing Lilian's praises until the cows come home. Thank you!

Lilian and the team were phenomenal in helping us through my father’s passing. I really can’t say enough good things about the whole team that took all the worry out of arrangements.

I dealt with Lilian and Andrew and they were both fantastic. This was such a hard time for me as I had to do everything myself and had never had to do anything like it before. There is so much to organising a funeral - but I never felt overwhelmed as I had fantastic support from Lilian in particular. We were on the phone several times on the same day at one point and I had random questions for her but she was great. I asked for additional flowers - not a problem. I wanted the name plate changed on the coffin - not a problem. They were so helpful and I cannot thank them enough for making such a difficult process so much easier to bear.

Our family have been using James Brown & Sons for generations, my Grandmother 1969, my Grandfather 1994, my Father 2013 and now my Brother 2023. from the moment you make that phone call you immediately feel like you are no longer alone. Within days they will feel like members of your family.Lilian at Dundonald branch was so kind and compassionate toward all our family members, she dedicated so much time to make sure everything would be as we wanted it.Lilian really went above and beyond, making phone calls and arrangements on my behalf. Thank you Lilian.Andrew our funeral director on the day was also brilliant, his years of experience, knowledge and advice on the whole process was invaluable, along with his team on the day Raymond and Al. Everything ran so smoothly, even though time was tight we never felt rushed. Thank you Andrew.Mark Niblock was our Officiant for the service, this man is one of a kind, Mark spent an afternoon with us a few days before the service and was able to write an overview which described my brothers character perfectly. We asked a lot of Mark , we wanted family euligys and song choices from different members of the family and he managed to fulfil all our wishes and even spent time with us after the service. Thank you Mark..I can’t recommend highly enough the staff at James Brown and sons Upper Newtownards road.Professional, respectful, caring, empathic, friendly,, compassionate and very supportive.

Thank you for everything. All staff were highly professional and caring. The limo drivers (Debra& William) kept us calm when we were running a little late for the crematorium, our fault for talking to so many people after the service. Water was provided as it was a hot day, which was a lovely touch. Barry was great. Lovely to speak with him the night before to get everything straight in our minds for the following day & was a great help to my partner with the music. Lilian & Janine were both lovely. We seen Lilian more and she comforted us so much during the 1st few days of the hardest time in our lives. Thank you xo (Dundonald branch )