Award-winning East Midlands funeral directors A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service has announced its biggest acquisition in more than 20 years, officially making it the largest independent funeral business in the UK as it takes ownership of Gillotts Funeral Directors.

The family business, which has operated across Nottinghamshire for almost 120 years, will bring Gillotts' five funeral homes in Eastwood, Kimberley, Stapleford, Heanor and Selston into the A.W. Lymn group, while maintaining Gillotts’ strong independent presence, brand and identity in the communities it serves. It comes as owners Barry and Elaine Hutsby prepare for retirement.

The acquisition follows a strategic period of growth for A.W. Lymn, which recently announced the acquisition and rebrand of G.D. Hall Funeral Directors in north Nottinghamshire, which came swiftly after it acquired Serene Funeral Planning in early 2025, Staffordshire’s Hammerwich Cemetery and Crematorium in 2024 and Radcliffe-on-Trent’s M.A. Mills in 2023.

This latest purchase is the largest in the company’s history, with the exception of when it acquired Ilkeston Co-Op Funeral Service in 2003.

Matthew Lymn Rose, fifth generation and Managing Director of A.W. Lymn, said:

“This is a really proud day for our two family businesses, both synonymous with exceptional care for and dedication to the bereaved across our counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Gillotts is, like my family business, steeped in generational history and known for operating with a high standard and quality of care for each and every family its team serves."

“Our family has always enjoyed a strong relationship with Gillotts, formed on mutual respect and admiration. My father, A.W. Lymn Company Chairman, Nigel Lymn Rose and Partner at Gillotts’ Barry Hutsby have both served as Presidents of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), and as two East Midlands family businesses in the funeral industry, we have seen how our values, ethos and approach seamlessly and enduringly align."

“We are honoured to have been entrusted with the next chapter of their business. This new partnership will enable us to share our resources to give our communities the highest level of service and access to a wider range of funeral offerings than ever before.”

Gillotts has operated in the East Midlands for more than 150 years as a family business, and under the leadership of Barry and Elaine, has provided a complete funeral service since 1973. With their expertise, the business has continued to grow, all while maintaining the same core values and family-centric approach instilled by its founders in the 1800s.

Since 2001, Joanne Hutsby, Barry and Elaine’s oldest daughter, together with Anthony Topley who joined his father-in-law Jack Gillott at the business in 1986, have managed the day-to-day operations of the business, and will continue to play a key role in the business going forward as Business Managers and Funeral Directors. Gillotts has two Jaguar hearses and three Jaguar XJ limousines along with ambulances and conducts more than 500 funerals through the combined branches each year.

All Gillotts staff will remain part of the business, continuing to work in the same way for families which have known and trusted the funeral directors for more than a century.

On behalf of Gillott’s Funeral Directors, Anthony Topley said:

“This new chapter in the history of Gillotts gives us an opportunity to bring together generations of family history and service to families from both businesses. We are looking forward to working together to provide an even better service to local families, and also to meet some of the challenges which now face traditional funeral firms, such as the growing influence of national firms advertising direct cremation."

"We want to spread the message that your local family funeral home should be the starting point for discussing your needs and options no matter what kind of send-off you want for you or your loved one."

“Our two businesses have always respected each other and have much in common, and Joanne and I are excited to work closely with Matthew and his team to make sure that the service we provide remains second to none. We expect very little to change for our clients and staff except where we can work together to do things better and more efficiently, allowing the Gillotts team more time to dedicate to caring for the needs of our client families.”

Established in 1907 in Nottingham when Arthur William Lymn conducted his first funeral, today the business is known as A.W. Lymn The Family Funeral Service, now operating 36 funeral homes across the Midlands in Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and one in Leicestershire, as well as Hammerwich Crematorium