24-year-old Bath funeral director trying to change “perceptions”

While an apprentice, Ms James said she had built up contacts by meeting funeral directors across Somerset and now ran her own business.

She said: “It was quite scary for me, going from an established company to go on my own. It’s quite daunting running my own business but so far it’s going really well.

“We always say, metaphorically we hold people’s hands through the journey.”

Ms James said she was keen to break “taboos” around death and funerals.

“Everyone has said that it’s really refreshing that young people are coming into the industry. It’s a changing industry.

“There’s so much taboo around death and people need to have conversations about death and I hope to help change that.”