About Us

As with all Funeral Directors our business has evolved over many years. Our origins can be traced back to the mid-eighteen hundreds, where the “Undertaker” was the carpenter/builder of the area who undertook to carry out the arrangements for the family. 

It was after the Second World War that my predecessor Mr G E Martel decided to provide a professional service more in line with developments in England, introducing the first chapel of rest to the Island and taking responsibility for all the arrangements of the funeral. 

I joined Mr Martel in 1972 and in 1974 we formed the company G.E. Martel Funeral Services Ltd. with Mr and Mrs Martel and myself as Directors. Due to ill health Mr Martel retired in 1976 and I bought the company and embarked on a plan to upgrade the business. After many years of frustration in getting planning permission for a purpose-built funeral home, this was granted in 1988. The home was completed in 1989 and we have since had extensions and a complete refurbishment in 1997.

After the death of Mr Martel in 1990, my wife became a director, and as the major shareholders, we changed the name to Martels Funeral Services Ltd. In 2011 Paul Bougourd joined us as a funeral director, followed by Joan Ozanne in 2016. 

I have been involved with the funeral profession for over fifty years, a period in which the public have come to expect a very high level of service, and we do our utmost to provide the assistance and advice the public demand, and are always striving for excellence of service.

Martels is an independent, family run funeral business, and is a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors. We are proud of the personal service and facilities we can offer to the bereaved and their families at times of grief and distress.