Ford Mears Directors John Ford and Tony Mears met when they both worked at John’s Uncle Hubert’s business, E Finch & Son in Aldershot. Hubert was the third generation of the family run business, and indeed it was John’s Uncle Hubert who first tried to persuade John’s father Harry to let him join the family business. Harry initially had reservations, but eventually Hubert managed to persuade him that working for the family business would offer good career prospects for the young man.
Though it would mean starting off with everyday tasks like company accounts and administration, the company had plans to introduce overseas funerals alongside repatriation to and from the UK, prospects that made the role attractive to an ambitious young man. So in 1972, John decided to join E Finch & Son in Aldershot, marking the start of his career in the funeral business.
As Hubert’s daughter Pauline also worked at E Finch & Son, both John and Pauline intimated that they would eventually continue the business. It therefore came as a great surprise to everyone when Hubert decided to sell the business to the Great Southern Group (GSG) in 1988.
Then, just nine months later, GSG made a shock announcement. They informed John that they no longer required his services as a company Secretary/Funeral Director and made him redundant on the very same day in February 1989 that his father-in-law died.
It was at that time that John made the fateful decision to persuade his friend and colleague Tony Mears to establish a new business; one that would grow by acquiring local Funeral Directors. The first of these purchases was A W Goddard of Fleet in 1989, a business that John’s family firm had serviced for many years. In that same year, John and Tony also partnered with G M Luff & Partners.
In 1989, they renamed G M Luff & Partners of Aldershot to Ford Mears & Partners – the company that exists today. From that point forward, John Ford, Tony Mears, and their fellow directors have continued to grow the company to support the communities they serve. Today, the next generation, including Simon Ford and Matthew Mears, continue to build upon the strong foundations established by their fathers.
