Meet Our Dedicated Team

Barbara Scrimshaw 

Company Director & Funeral Director

I was born in Bicester and grew up in the picturesque village of Somerton. Being a country loving girl I didn’t venture too far so have lived most of my life in the lovely village of Souldern with my husband Nigel and also raising my two children there.

Before entering the funeral profession I have previously worked for a number of large corporations as an area manager covering the whole of the UK. These roles have involved promoting high standards of customer service and care, which has always enabled me to respect all people’s points of views.

When I first entered the funeral profession, over a decade ago, I felt my previous career positions have stood me in good stead in showing empathy, patience and most importantly being a good listener.

When Edd asked me to join him in 2015, I didn’t have to think twice. I had worked with him previously and during that time knew he had exceptionally good work practices. He is passionate about being a funeral director and always gives individual care to the families he helps in their time of need.

These past years have been so rewarding in many ways, working within a close knit team, being part of a company that is growing successfully within our area and becoming friends with so many families that we serve.

When not at work I care for my elderly year old (young) mother who lives at home with us. I have two little granddaughters, Isla and Willow, both of whom I love to bits. When Nigel(my Husband) and I do get some time to ourselves, we love to go and see musicals and are known to have a couple of holidays a year. Maybe a cruise or a little Greek island.

Sophie Frost 

Company Director

I have lived in North Oxfordshire for most of my life, mostly in Adderbury which is where I met Edd.  We married in 2002 and now have 2 teenage daughters (Daisy and Lola).  We also have two cavapoos – Olive and Nancy.

When the business first started in 2013 it was mainly Edd and myself in the office, but we quickly welcomed people to our wonderful team.  Now I work from home and look after not only the social media side of the business, but also look after donations on behalf of our families and forward the monies onto the charity of their choice.

The rest of my time is spent supporting Edd, and making sure the girls get to school on time amongst many other things!  Weekends are spent socialising with family and friends.

We are very lucky to have such a great team of people working with us, who show dedication and compassion every day.

Aaron Taylor – Dip F.A.A

Funeral Director & Manager at Brackley Office

I was born and grew up in Banbury, attending Neithrop Primary School and Banbury Secondary School. When I was 18, I decided I was ready to fend for myself and spent a few years in Brackley before returning to Banbury.

Before working in the funeral profession, I worked for Thames Valley Police taking both emergency and non-emergency calls from the public. It was a job I absolutely loved and had no intentions of leaving until a very good friend, Ian Fergie, a very experienced funeral director who worked at a large family firm in Banbury, asked me if I had ever thought of becoming a funeral director. If I am perfectly honest…I hadn’t, not even once! He explained to me that one of their funeral directors was retiring and he thought that I would be an ideal replacement and encouraged me to go for the job. So I did.

I was then offered the position and Ian took me under his wing, gave me an enormous amount of help and advice and imparted some of his 32 years of experience on me. I will be forever grateful to Ian, not only for his help and advice but for steering me in the direction of the career which I love.

Sadly, in June 2015 Ian passed away suddenly and I began to feel lost. Working in a large family business without my friend and mentor meant I had become quite despondent. At around the same time I saw that Edd was advertising for a funeral director to join him, his company ethos of ‘Where Caring Comes First’ really struck a chord with me so I applied for the position and nervously waited to see if I had been successful, thankfully I was! I knew that Ian Fergie had also mentored Edd so our way of wouldn’t be too dissimilar.

I have now been working with Edd and Barbara for some time and have been given so many opportunities that ordinarily I wouldn’t have had. I really enjoy getting out into the community and getting to know people both personally and professionally and it really does mean a lot to me to be able to serve the families of Banbury and the surrounding areas.

In September 2017, I passed my Diploma in Funeral Arranging and Administration (Dip FAA) achieving a distinction. In time, I would like to go on to complete the Diploma in Funeral Directing (Dip FD).

Outside of work, I live with my wife Victoria and our son Theodore. I also enjoy spending time with my eldest son Joshua, who is growing up far too quickly! I enjoy playing guitar and listening to all sorts of music, especially folk.

Aaron manages our Brackley office. 

Chris Cousins

Funeral Director

I was born in Banbury and brought up in Kings Sutton. Being a ‘Village Boy’, I have always loved the great outdoors and enjoyed being involved in the village life and the local community.

I have worked in the funeral profession since I was 18. The profession has played a large part within my family as my great uncle was Claude Hemmings of Bloxham who was the last member of the Hemmings family to run the family business from Rectory Farm. From an early age I can recall helping my dad and great uncle, Peter Hemmings, prepare and to close graves within the locality.

I started working for Edd Frost & Daughters Family Funeral Directors in June 2019 and am currently working towards being a fully qualified funeral director. I enjoy greatly the contact with families through taking the first call and attending family homes, that may sometimes be during the night or early hours and building the initial relationships with our families at such a testing time.

In my spare time I like going to the gym and further enjoying the great outdoors, camping and my ownership of a vintage tractor. I have just purchased my first house with partner Shannon locally in the community.

I feel incredibly lucky through my role here to be able to serve the local community and families within and around Banbury and look forward to furthering my skills and knowledge over the coming months and years.

Paul Cousins

Funeral Operative

I was born in Banbury and spent my childhood between King’s Sutton and Rectory Farm, Bloxham home of the Hemmings family who were the local undertakers in the village. During this time I was introduced to the funeral profession by my uncle Claude, where I served as a pallbearer from the age of 15 and where I also prepared graves with my uncles, John and Peter. It was also during this time that I discovered my love of farming. 

I like to think that Uncle Claude would be very proud of where I am now, together with my son Chris, we follow on in his footsteps working locally for Edd Frost and Daughters, where I now serve as Mortuary Technician. It’s lovely working locally still and being able to talk to the families that we care and reminisce about old times and the stories of Uncle Claude who was a real character. 

In my spare time I like to attend steam rallies, particularly our local Bloxham Rally with my Vintage Tractor.

Joshua Allitt

Funeral Operative

I was born and raised in Banbury alongside my younger brother Ethan, by my two loving parents Marianne and Mark. Both sets of my grandparents also still live in Banbury to this day.

We all have a very close family bond which I believe is one of the most important aspects within giving your full respect to anyone who I have come across so far during my time at Edd Frost and Daughters funeral directors.

From being raised in a Christian family, I attended St. Mary’s Church of England Primary school in Banbury where I developed a passion for sports and ultimately the ability to work closely with team members at a range of different paces. Taking this into account, I had to decide on a secondary school to attend and subsequently chose Blessed George Napier (BGN) Catholic School in Banbury, as at the time it was well known in the local community for its facilities in being a sports college, along with its tendency of providing a wholesome community for that specific age group. I attended BGN for five years and in that time became noticeably intrigued by science and as the years went on, the idea of studying science in the future really appealed to me. However, I was always more interested in the practical side of the experiments that I carried out. Taking this knowledge onboard I realised that A levels did not suit me as well as I initially thought they would have and began to look around a number of different college courses which I believed would not only advance my learning but also allow me to take a mature step forward into the beginning of my adulthood. After browsing through a number of different science- based courses, the decision of beginning a level 3 diploma in Forensic science and Criminal investigation was an easy one.

As part of the first year Forensic science and Criminal Investigation curriculum, I had to find a two week work experience placement which was when I first met Edd and the rest of his welcoming, dedicated team. From the second Edd kindly allowed me to start my work experience I instantly became attached to the high level of care, comfort and respect that he provided to every single family we looked after. I spent the next year of my college life contemplating my next step in life, I was shocked at how little I wanted to go to university and how eager I was to be part of Edd Frost & Daughters team and it was here that Edd invited me back for a second two week instalment of work experience as I headed towards the end of my two year Forensic course.

I feel immensely proud that I have now completed an apprenticeship with Edd Frost & Daughters acheiveing 3 distinctions. In my role, as well as being part of the on call rota and being on hand to help with absolutely anything that may be needed.

Jackie Hawkes

Front of House & Admin

I was born in Banbury and moved to Warwickshire when I was 6 years old.  I spent most of my childhood life in the beautiful village of Shotteswell. I attended St. Johns Catholic Primary and Tysoe Primary and I studied for my secondary education at Kineton High School.

After studying Tourism at Stratford Upon Avon College, I was lucky enough to travel to America and the Caribbean with a wonderful family, and that gave me the urge to be a Travel Agent. I worked at Lunn Poly for a number of years and during this time I met Adam, and we’ve been very happily married for 25 years in July! We have 2 amazing children, Sam who is 21 and Annie who is 19.

My previous role, working as a Front of House customer advisor for Sanctuary Housing spanned almost 13 years. I worked with amazing people and got to know and help so many lovely families during my time there. I have always strived to give the best Customer service and to show understanding and patience to all of my customers and I feel this has put me in good stead for working at Edd Frost and daughters. I lost both my parents at a young age.  I was pregnant with my first child when I lost my Mum to cancer which was an extremely difficult time but I feel I can relate to others and totally empathize with what they are going through.  I love working for Edd Frost & Daughters and I already find my role rewarding in so many ways. It feels great to be a part of such a wonderful and successful family run business and everyone has been so welcoming. I really do feel I am part of the family.

Julia Cooper

Front of House & Admin at Brackley Office

I have lived in Brackley for the last 12 years having previously grown up and lived in surrounding villages.

Prior to working for Edd Frost & Daughters, the majority of my career was spent in the travel industry. I managed several branches of a well known high street travel operator (remember those!?) before working for myself as a Travel Councillor, which I continue to do in my spare time.

During the coronavirus pandemic, the travel industry was severely impacted, so when the opportunity to work for Edd Frost & Daughters arose in December 2020 I felt that it was the perfect role where I could transfer the skills I had built up in travel and continue looking after families and being super organised, albeit in a different environment.

I work with Aaron at our Brackley office and I really enjoy meeting with and helping the families that we look after in what is often the most difficult of times. I really enjoy my time with Edd Frost & Daughters and am really excited to be a part of the new chapter of the business within our Brackley office.

 

Outside of work I love spending time with my husband Michael, our son Matthew and our crazy Golden Retriever Farley. We are a sports mad household and love cheering on our teams – when we aren’t walking the dog!

Our Bearing Team

Our bearing team join us from many different walks of life but one thing that we always pride ourselves on is how smart and professional they all are and how they all embrace our ethos of “Where Caring Comes First”.

Some of our bearing team are retired, having had careers in lorry driving, management and the police and will come and work for us when they are not tending to their allotments! We also have some serving fire fighters as part of our team who help us between shifts and we also have a children’s entertainer.

We expect and set high standards for all of our team, not just our bearers, and we are so very lucky to have a compliment of bearers who care about the families we look after as much as we do and don’t just see this as a way to get out of the house.