We start with you
Every arrangement starts with listening. We want to understand the person who has died and what matters to the people making the arrangements, without assuming what a funeral should look like.
About Poetic Endings · Independent funeral directors in London
Funerals deserve more thought
We’re a small, independent funeral home in Forest Hill, founded on the belief that a good funeral matters.
We arrange funerals across London, from the traditional to the unexpected. We make space for questions, explain the choices and help people find an approach that feels right for them.
How it began
Not born into funerals. Drawn to them.
Poetic Endings began with a question: why, when someone dies, do we so often accept a funeral that doesn't feel like them?
Our founder, Louise Winter, came to funeral directing by an unconventional route. After working in fashion and writing, she began thinking differently about funerals when her grandad died. His funeral felt impersonal and disconnected from the man she knew.
Louise retrained as a funeral celebrant before founding Poetic Endings: an independent funeral service that gives people the time, information and freedom to make choices that matter.
Today we arrange traditional funerals, quieter gatherings, natural burials and funerals in places you might never have thought possible.
Our approach isn’t about being unusual for the sake of it. It’s about understanding the person who has died, the people who will be there and what this occasion needs to be.
Further reading
The story behind Poetic Endings — The GuardianThe Poetic philosophy
The way we work
Our job is not to prescribe a particular type of funeral. It's to give you the information, time and support to decide what feels right — and then make it happen.
Choice without pressure
Traditional or contemporary, religious or non-religious, simple or elaborate. We'll talk honestly about what is possible, explain costs clearly and give you room to decide.
Care in the details
Good funeral directing is practical as well as personal. We take care of the person who has died, coordinate the arrangements and remain alongside you through the funeral itself.
The work itself
There isn't just one way to hold a funeral
Our thinking comes from the funerals we arrange and the people we meet. Sometimes the most meaningful choice is a very simple one; sometimes it's something less expected.
People, not a process
Meet the Poetic team
Between us, we bring experience in funeral directing, death care, bereavement support, writing, events and the arts. You’ll get to know the people arranging the funeral, not just the company name.
Louise Winter
Founder & funeral director
Louise founded Poetic Endings after working in writing and training as a funeral celebrant. A former editor of the Good Funeral Guide, she co-founded Life. Death. Whatever. and co-wrote We All Know How This Ends, published by Bloomsbury. She believes funerals deserve serious thought, openness and imagination. Away from work, she loves poetry, growing roses and climbing mountains.
Isabel Potter
Director of operations & senior funeral director
Isabel brings more than seven years’ experience leading funerals and funeral operations, following an earlier career in arts and charity marketing. She has also worked with Cruse Bereavement Support and St Christopher’s Hospice. Isabel is especially interested in gentle death care and helping people feel more confident talking about death. She enjoys year-round swims at Brockwell Lido, life drawing and time with her children.
Mitzi Weston
Funeral coordinator
Mitzi came to funeral coordinating from events, bringing calm organisation, creativity and a close eye for detail. She wants people to understand that funerals can be meaningful, personal and true to the person who has died. Outside work she is close to her nieces and nephews, plays jazz and classical piano and has travelled independently across Australia and South East Asia.
Clare Harriott
Funeral support
Clare has been part of Poetic Endings since the beginning. After many years as a funeral director, she now supports the team on an ad hoc basis, drawing on her experience helping people arrange personal funerals. She enjoys spending time with her granddaughter, walking Dougie the dog, volunteering and sewing.
Beyond the funeral home
Writing, speaking and changing the conversation
Beyond the everyday work of arranging funerals, Poetic Endings has long been part of a wider conversation about death, choice and how funerals can be better. Our founder, Louise Winter, has contributed through books, articles, talks and work across the profession.
The book · Bloomsbury, 2021
We All Know How This Ends
By Anna Lyons and Louise Winter · Green Tree / Bloomsbury
A book about death and dying, but also about life and living. Drawing on their experiences as an end-of-life doula and funeral director, Anna and Louise explore grief, loss, the practical realities of dying and the conversations we often put off.
It's the longer version of the conversation that began with Life. Death. Whatever.: death belongs in life, and talking about it can help us live more thoughtfully.
TEDxKingsCollegeLondon · 2017This Could Be
the Last TimeLouise Winter · TEDx talk
the Last TimeLouise Winter · TEDx talk
On stage
A talk about mortality and how we live
At TEDxKing's College London, Louise spoke about our relationship with mortality and what might change if we acknowledged that every encounter could be our last.
Watch the TEDx talkIn print and in conversation
Writing & press
From first-person articles to interviews about the funeral profession, Louise's work has reached readers and listeners well beyond London. Here are some places to start, with a larger archive below.
British VogueThe GuardianStylistEvening StandardBBC Radio & NewsVice
Should Everyone Have An End-Of-Life Doula? →An original essay on loss, care and connection during the pandemic
Funerals should be personal, but new coffin colours aren't the answer →An argument for emotionally meaningful funerals, beyond surface-level personalisation
The bespoke funeral director: It's about handling death differently →An early profile of Louise's route into the profession
Meet the women who want to transform the way we talk about death →On the ideas behind We All Know How This Ends
Bauhaus urns and Scrabble-themed coffins: UK embraces new funeral trends →How independent funeral directors, including Poetic Endings, are influencing wider changes in the professionThe new wave of funerals happening in the capital →A look at the different approach to funeral directing emerging in London
Broadcast appearances
On the BBC
Alongside her published writing, Louise has appeared on BBC London, BBC Radio 4 and BBC News. Her broadcast work has brought her voice to audiences beyond the funeral profession.
BBC Radio 4
Discussing funeral costs and transparency on Radio 4’s Sunday programme in 2018.
BBC London
Broadcast appearances on the BBC’s London service.
BBC News
Appearances on BBC News, alongside other television and radio contributions.
Explore the press & publications archive
- Stylist — Life lessons from working with death (2017)
- Country & Town House — Meet the women who want us to think about death differently
- The Independent — What I learned about dying (2016)
- Funeral Service Times — On writing the book (2021)
- eHospice / Life Ledger — In conversation with Louise Winter (2022)
- Funeral Guide — Matters of Life and Death
- The Idler — Book of the Week, excerpt by Louise Winter (2023)
- The Life and Death Podcast — How a good funeral can help with grief (2022)
- The Guardian — Alternative ideas for the afterlife (2017)
- The Guardian — Funeral care during the pandemic (2020)
- Life. Death. Whatever. — Original press archive (including earlier Vice coverage)
A selection of writing, interviews and coverage, rather than a complete archive. Additional broadcast recordings and press features can be added when original links are available.
Beyond individual funerals
Working for better funerals
Our conviction that funerals matter also shapes the work we do across the wider profession: sharing information, questioning established practices and arguing for higher standards and genuine choice.
The Good Funeral Guide
Louise was formerly editor of the Good Funeral Guide, an independent, not-for-profit organisation offering free advice and information to help people make informed choices about funerals.
Explore the Good Funeral GuideTransparency and standards
Poetic Endings contributed published evidence and proposals to the Competition and Markets Authority's funeral-sector investigation, including views on choice, pricing and standards of care.
Read our published responseLife. Death. Whatever.
With Anna Lyons, Louise co-founded Life. Death. Whatever., an award-winning festival and project encouraging more honest conversations about mortality, including events with the National Trust.
Explore the archiveIndependence and standards
What you can expect from us
Independence should mean genuine choice, transparency and a willingness to question convention. We welcome people from every background and are accountable to recognised standards and independent scrutiny.
Everyone is welcome
We're an LGBTQIA+ inclusive funeral director. We'll respect the person who has died, their identity and their relationships, and we don't make assumptions about relationships or what a funeral should look like.
Read about our inclusive approachProfessional membershipSAIF · Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors
Professional membershipAssociation of Green Funeral Directors
Independent recommendationRecommended by the Good Funeral Guide
Independent recommendationRecommended by the Natural Death Centre
In 2016, we were nominated for Funeral Director of the Year at the Good Funeral Awards.
“Possibly one of the most creative and insightful people involved with funerals anywhere in the world”
Read the assessment
“One woman sweeping aside the stoic undertaker stereotype is Louise Winter”
Read the article
Poetic Endings · Forest Hill · London
Come and meet us
Whatever kind of funeral you're considering, you're welcome to contact us with a question or arrange a visit. We're based in Forest Hill and work with people across London.