Lamb & Hayward - AvonPark Chapel

What Lamb & Hayward - AvonPark Chapel does

Lamb & Hayward is a privately held, Canterbury-owned funeral services company founded in 1923, operating across five venues in the greater Christchurch region: Westpark (Burnside), Oaklands (Halswell), Wai-mana (Rangiora), AvonPark Chapel (Linwood), and Christchurch Crematorium (Wigram), along with two memorial gardens. The company provides the full spectrum of funeral services including traditional funerals, cremations, eco/natural burials, embalming, repatriation, pre-payment contracts, and pre-planning services. It also holds a partnership with the Department of Conservation for the Ōtukaikino Reserve and maintains a dedicated liaison for the Chinese community in Canterbury.

The firm's revenue model is built on per-service fees, with published package prices ranging from approximately $5,610 NZD for a Simple Cremation to $14,297 NZD for a Classic Ceremony, supplemented by pre-payment contract revenue and memorial garden fees. The company holds the distinction of being the first funeral home in New Zealand to achieve Consumer NZ Trusted accreditation and the only CarbonZero certified funeral home in the world, signaling a brand positioning around trust and environmental responsibility. CEO Stephen Parkyn leads a large team of funeral directors, embalmers, and support staff across the Canterbury region.

The business model is geographically concentrated in Canterbury, serving general public families with no enterprise or institutional customers. Differentiation is driven by 100+ years of brand equity, multi-venue regional density, regulatory and sustainability certifications, and targeted community outreach (e.g., Chinese community liaison). Revenue, headcount, and ownership structure (beyond local Canterbury ownership) are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Lamb & Hayward - AvonPark Chapel

Legal name

Lamb & Hayward Limited

Website

https://lambandhayward.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lamb & Hayward is a 100-year-old Canterbury-owned funeral services company operating five venues and two memorial gardens in greater Christchurch, New Zealand, serving local families with traditional funerals, cremations, eco burials, pre-payment plans, and repatriation services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Christchurch

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Professional Service Fees: Fixed charge for engaging the company covering overall amenities, guidance, expertise, and availability. Covers resources, professional guidance, bereavement aftercare, and time commitment.
2. Mortuary Services: Embalming and mortuary care including preparation and presentation of deceased for viewing
3. Vehicle Transfers: Transfer services from place of death to funeral home and to final disposition location
4. Casket and Urn Sales: Caskets and urns ranging from basic flat lid to premium options
5. Venue Hire: Use of chapel venues for funeral services, viewings, and receptions
6. Cremation Services: Owned and operated Christchurch Crematorium providing dignified cremations
7. Memorial Garden Services: Interment rights for ashes at memorial gardens with various options including columbarium niches and raised gardens
8. Pre-Payment Contracts: Pre-funded funeral plans held in trust with BNZ, minimum $500 initial deposit

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Lamb & Hayward - AvonPark Chapel is a Canterbury-owned funeral services provider operating in Christchurch, New Zealand since 1923. The company delivers full-service funeral direction including mortuary/embalming care, cremation (operated from its own crematorium), traditional and alternative burial, pre-planning arrangements, venue hire for wakes and celebrations of life, and memorial gardens. It serves bereaved families across the Canterbury region with 24/7 availability and culturally-tailored services including dedicated Chinese-community liaison.

Product overview

Lamb & Hayward is a Canterbury-owned funeral service provider with over 100 years of operation, offering a comprehensive portfolio of funeral-related products and services. The core offering comprises funeral direction, embalming, cremation, and burial services delivered through multiple owned venues (Westpark, Oaklands, Wai-mana, AvonPark Chapel, Christchurch Crematorium) and partner locations. The service model includes pre-planning and prepayment options through a trust structure, repatriation services, and online obituary platforms with livestreaming. Additional offerings include casket/urn sales, catering, memorial gardens with various interment options, and specialised eco-funeral packages. The company holds CarbonZero certification and Consumer NZ Trusted accreditation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Funeral Direction Services
• Cremation Services
• Burial Services
• Mortuary Care
• Pre-Planning Services
• Venue Hire
• Memorial Gardens
• Chinese-Community Funeral Services
• Livestream and Multi-Media Tribute Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% of client families trust Lamb & Hayward to deliver excellent and professional service
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Department of ConservationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1992Joint venture since 1992 to develop Ōtukaikino Reserve - a 13 hectare native freshwater wetland. Lamb & Hayward plants a tree for every funeral service conducted. Partnership includes track upgrades, bridge construction, and ongoing maintenance of the Living Memorial reserve.
• Consumer NZcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsumer Trusted accreditation program. Consumer NZ conducts mystery shopping assessments and awards accreditation to businesses meeting strict consumer protection standards. Lamb & Hayward was first funeral home in NZ to achieve this accreditation.
• Hinewai Nature ReserveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPurchase carbon offset credits from Hinewai Reserve on Banks Peninsula to maintain CarbonZero certification. Documentary 'Fools and Dreamers' about the reserve's botanist Hugh Wilson is supported by Lamb & Hayward.
• Enviro-Mark SolutionscoreTechnology or IntegrationAudit partner for carboNZero and CEMARS certification programs. Provides tools for measuring and certifying greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
• Christchurch Symphony OrchestraminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSponsorship of CSO Masterworks Series since 1992 - 30+ years of arts sponsorship. Partnership includes Lamb & Hayward Masterworks series branding and community involvement.
• BNZ (Bank of New Zealand)minorOthersClient funds account for pre-payment funeral contracts. Interest-bearing deposits held through BNZ for benefit of participants.
• Community SponsorshipsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerVarious community sponsorships including Canterbury Golf, Canterbury Outdoor Bowls, Riding for the Disabled, Canterbury Charitable Hospital, The Lamar Charitable Trust, Parafed Canterbury.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights8 records

Emerging players

• Pure Cremation: UK-based direct cremation specialist operating an online-first, low-cost model without traditional chapel venues. Comparable as a disruptive peer that signals the secular shift away from chapel-based funerals that Lamb & Hayward must respond to.

Direct peers

• Cavell Funerals: New Zealand family-owned funeral director with chapel venues and cremation services. Comparable mid-sized competitor serving New Zealand families with similar full-service offerings to Lamb & Hayward.
• Simplicity Funerals: Australia/NZ low-cost funeral and direct cremation brand owned by InvoCare. Closely comparable to Lamb & Hayward's Simple Cremation tier and represents the disruptive low-cost model that pressures traditional chapel-based funeral packages.
• Davis Funerals: Established New Zealand funeral director operating across multiple regions with chapel venues, cremation coordination, and pre-payment options. Directly comparable to Lamb & Hayward in service mix, venue model, and target families, making it the closest head-to-head competitor in NZ.

Broad incumbents

• StoneMor Partners: US operator of cemeteries and funeral homes with comparable integrated cemetery/funeral service model. Relevant benchmark for combined cemetery (memorial garden) plus funeral operations similar to Lamb & Hayward's Rata and Garden of Memories assets.
• Dignity plc: UK-listed funeral services group operating a national network of funeral homes, crematoria, and pre-arranged funeral plans. Closely comparable in vertical integration (funeral directing plus crematoria) and pre-payment strategy, at much larger scale in the UK market.
• InvoCare: Australia's largest funeral operator and owner of multiple NZ funeral brands including Simplicity Funerals and White Lady. Operates a portfolio of funeral and cemetery brands that overlap with Lamb & Hayward's vertical integration strategy but at significantly larger scale across multiple geographies.
• Service Corporation International: Largest funeral services and cemetery operator in North America with brands like Dignity Memorial. Comparable vertical integration across funeral homes, crematoria, and cemeteries, and relevant as a publicly traded benchmark for valuing a private funeral business at scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/lambandhayward
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lamb-&-hayward---avonpark-chapel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lamb & Hayward - AvonPark Chapel