For many people the idea of running a funeral parlour would not be high on the list of business ideas. But for Lucy Jane it is a dream come true.

The 31-year-old has just opened The Individual Funeral Company in Rose Hill, Oxford, forming only the second individual undertakers’ firm to currently operate in the city.

Ms Jane is especially proud to be running her own business as it marks an individual high point in her life after she found herself practically homless at the age of 17.

Her parents had divorced and as her father was in the RAF he was posted to Wales and the family was forced to leave their services home at Carterton, ending up in a two-room flat in east Oxford which the city council provided as emergency accommodation.

She dropped out of college and became a chef but knew it was not the career for her. So one day she decided to ring the Co-op funeral directors in Headington and withing an hour and a half she had a job.

Ms Jane said: “They taught me everything I now do. I love it.”

From there she moved to another firm in Leicestershire where she drove a motorcycle hearse.

“I was the first female motorcycle hearse rider and I used a Suzuki Hayabusa, the fastest production bike in the world. We had a custom built sidecar and I travelled up and down the coutry taking people for their last ride.”

After four years she decided she wanted to start on her own and grandfather Bob Coulbert looked over her business plan.

Mr Coulbert has since died but that experience drove her on to overcome a series of delays and she now has a picture of her grandparents hanging over her desk.

“They are watching me do the best job I can. We managed to get the building but instead of six weeks it took a year. The work should have taken three weeks but it took two months.”

Getting the business off the ground has been a real family affair. Brother Guy took on the building work while sister Hannah helps out in the office and mother Suzie, a mortuary manager in London, helps with the collection and preparation of the deceased for burial or cremation.

“Everyone was involved — my three-year-old nice helped paint a wall and another six-year-old nice pulled up the last bit of the floor.

“And I genuinely believe that whoever walks through the door will be treated like a member of the family.”

Ms Jane believes that her fresh approach will be welcomed by many people, particularly when their involvement with a funeral director will coincide with a traumatic time of their lives.

“Many funeral directors are stuck in a rut and so much of what they do is a box ticking exercise.

“We try to give as much information as possible as people want to make sure that whoever has passed away is going to be looked after.”

Ms Jane can be as involved as a client likes. Some may wish to simply buy a coffin or arrange for paperwork to be completed. Or she can arrange everything from start to finish.

The new business has already proved a talking point in the local community with its colourful shop window that is a far cry from the traditional funeral business.

“People keep on coming in and asking questions and I see what we can do for them. It is about listening. I feel we are really becoming part of the community ”

As for her approach, she believes it is down to common sense and empathy with clients.

“It is not just a job — you have to genuinely care,” she said.

“I love running my own business as it means you have so much freedom. It is brilliant being my own boss.”

Contact: 01865 714130 Web: www.theindividualfuneralcompany.co.uk