Meet Mick

Since he joined us in March 2024, Mick Wood has become a familiar face as both one of our trusted bearers and also, impeccably turned out in his top hat and cane, conducting funerals too.

For Mick, joining Tester & Jones Funeral Services, marked a return to a profession he first got involved with in his early 20s.

“Back then, I worked for an independent funeral business for a year until the business was sold and I was made redundant,” Mick explains. “I then spent time in a lighting shop, before being offered a role with a national funeral business, where I worked for a while doing most things there, including conducting.”

He then left for a 30-year career as a railway engineer.

“When my time on the railway finished, I wanted to find something to fill some time and, having worked in the funeral industry before, asked a friend for his advice,” says Mick. “He recommended Tester & Jones and, after a family friend’s funeral that was organised by the firm, I introduced myself and was invited in for an interview.”

Now Mick comes in maybe two or three times a week, although he adds that during a recent busy period, he felt like a full-time member of the team.

“It’s such a great team here at Tester & Jones and I would vouch for every single person here,” he says. “They are just so professional and everybody really cares about the service we are providing. Also, being independent makes a real difference, as we can be flexible. Having worked for a national firm in the past, I know their approach can be much more regimented.”

Conducting a funeral on the day is very much like being the conductor of an orchestra – as everyone looks to that person for the lead, including our bearers and the family.

“When I get to Tester & Jones on the day of a funeral, I make sure we’ve got everything we need and that the coffin is ready with the correct flowers and anything else that might be required,” says Mick. “I co-ordinate the bearers and walk in front of the coffin to pay my respects. I also talk to the family and make sure everything is just as they’d like it, such as whether they’d like to walk in before or after the coffin and what they’d like to happen to the flowers afterwards. It’s always important to double check their requirements on the day, as sometimes they might change their mind and that’s fine.”

He adds: “I take great pride in conducting a funeral and feel immensely proud to be in a position to help a family through the worst possible time in their lives.”

When he’s not at work, Mick is a keen motorcyclist and has three bikes. He’s a member of a local Harley Davidson Chapter, plays in a ten-pin bowling league and loves cooking, particularly Indian and Chinese food.

Also, having been in an engineer for 30 years, Mick also loves discovering how things work. He used to buy and repair 16^th and 17^th century clocks but now enjoys reconditioning pocket watches and wrist watches.