The Evening Chronicle - April 24 2004

"It's service with a smile" he says, beaming at me. "I try to reflect as much as possible the individual. Personally I'm not religious and I find graveyards and chapels a little depressing. But you don't need to do what everyone else does, you can do what you like."

But what does he mean? "When you die you will be either buried or cremated but how you get to that point is entirely up to you." For instance, you can be buried wherever you like, as long as it's not near water course. "People just don't ask questions so they don't know. You don't have to have a church service, you hire a hall. And you don't have to have hymns at a funeral - you can have the Sex Pistols if you want." he says. "And you most certainly don't need a hearse or limousines. You can take your own car or hire a taxi. In fact I look forward to the day you hire a taxi, put the coffin in the boot and take it to the crematorium. Instead of a hundred quid, it will cost a fiver."

Carl says "We've got to change the way society thinks about death. We never discuss it and so when a loved one goes, we don't know if they want to be buried or cremated, which just compounds the grief. Losing someone is hard enough without the confusion. "I want people to go how they want to go , not how some funeral director wants them to go, and I want to make it affordable.

"Some funeral directors equate the amount of money spent with respect. Well, I don't buy that at all. People spend £800 on flowers and they're dead two days later. To me it would be much better if they spent that money on a party to celebrate the life of the deceased."

Another bugbear for Carl is when people pay for their funerals before they die. "I do offer it, because there's a call for it. But I don't think anyone should be saving up to die."

He went on: "I want people to die happy in the knowledge that their final parting will be a personal, special occasion and that their last wishes are carried out exactly as they wanted.