| Feature
Inspired Meadows is a company dedicated to
addressing the ever-increasing burial space
crisis in the UK
Since the BBC reported on the crisis in 2013, this has become a growing public concern.
n the report, it was discovered
that by 2020 there would be no
burial space
left in the UK. The situation is
escalating to the point that, in
many cemeteries, people are
literally being buried on top of each other, while
others are being removed from their final
resting places to make space for others. Five
hundred thousand people a year pass away in
the UK and that means the situation is only
going to get worse. This is why more and more
people are looking for alternative burial and
cremation options.
Natural and ecological burial sites are
growing in popularity, but we have seen that
the gap between the traditional church burials
and the ecological ones is huge. For the person
who either wishes to be buried in a church, or
be cremated and their ashes spread, the gulf
between traditional and ecological makes it too
much of a leap. What we plan to do at Inspired
Meadows is bridge the gap and make this new
option the option of choice.
We are creating some of the most beautiful
and environmentally responsible resting places
in the UK, offering serene, picturesque and
I
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tranquil places for friends and family to come
and remember their loved ones. Unlike
crowded cemeteries, our locations are made
up of large individual memorial gardens. Each
garden presents the opportunity to lay a natural
stone memorial, plant a tree and sow wild
flower seeds. Over time each individual garden
will combine and join with the landscape to
form a natural legacy of stunning meadows and
woodland glades.
Our beautiful 23-acre site in the Lake District
will soon be opening and to follow this we are
looking to roll out our project across the UK.
To enable rapid growth, Inspired Meadows is
currently looking to form partnerships with
landowners across the UK to commercialise
hard-to-sell or low-value land and convert them
into significant income streams.
To drive sales forward, we are putting a huge
amount of resources into the sales and
marketing of these sites in order to encourage
people to organise their end-of-life plans by
pre-purchasing their plots. This national
advertising campaign will be multifaceted to
include: digital and social media; a television
advert; traditional marketing methods which will
include regional telemarketing campaigns. We
can also offer full merchant and finance
facilities to facilitate plot purchases.
Inspired Meadows cover all costs of the
entire planning process, as well as managing
all sales, marketing and operational aspects of
day-to-day running. We estimate the planning
process to take no longer than six to eight
months, dependent on local planning authority
waiting time.
For the land to be considered suitable, there
needs to be good road access, a minimum of 5
acres and no ground water issues. Land would
need to be vetted, but we will manage the
entire process. The initial development of the
land would very much depend on the current
condition. However, once planning is granted,
the use of 3D virtual reality programming will
enable us to commence sales and marketing
with immediate effect.
This is a gateway opportunity into the highly
lucrative, funeral-care market that is currently
worth £2 billion annually in the UK alone. This
can only increase when you consider by 2035
UK population is set to rise to 73.2 million.
If you are a landowner looking for new
opportunities we would love to hear from you.
September 2018 | Farming Monthly | 09