Haine & Son
Founded in 1838, Haine & Son is a Sussex funeral director with a proud history, due to being the oldest funeral directors in Eastbourne.
Like all good things, we’ve improved with age, and now service four more closely linked towns in East Sussex. If you visit us in our comfortable and contemporary funeral homes in Battle, Hailsham, and Polegate. In Eastbourne, you will find that we still occupy the site of our original 19th century offices on South Street.
With years of experience, and a rich heritage in funeral planning, Haine & Son combines heartfelt care and excellent standards of service. If you’re local to Sussex, you may be familiar with our distinctive grey liveried vehicles, which have been a hallmark of the Haine & Son name throughout our history.
Our compassionate Haine & Son teams are unrelenting in their dedication to serving the local community and offer an abundance of experience that helps support and guide families at a particularly difficult time.
A copy of our current price list can be found by clicking the button below.
Under the order made by the Competition and Markets Authority, we are required to publish a Standardised price list and Other information.
Our Team
Howard Coote
Principal Funeral Director, Eastbourne
Howard Coote
Principal Funeral Director, Eastbourne
I have been in the funeral industry since 1985 and worked as a funeral director since 1991.
All of my career has been in the Eastbourne area and I arrived at Haine and Son in 2003. I enjoy helping families through the process of making funeral arrangements, especially helping people when at their lowest.
I am married to Helen, we married in St Marys Church Old Town, and we have three children. We live in Willingdon and I have served the community as Parish councillor since 2003, serving four terms. I am now in my Sixteenth year and currently Vice Chairman of the Council.
I have a Kit car and a classic car which I tinker with in my spare time.
Andy Holter
Funeral Director, Battle
Andy Holter
Funeral Director, Battle
I have been working as a funeral director for CPJ Field since January 2008. The best part of this job is having the daily opportunity to look after families and support them following the loss of a loved one.
I have developed CPJ Field’s Health & Safety program and deliver training within the workplace, as well as leading all Health, Safety & Wellbeing legislation, and implementation within CPJ Field.
In my spare time, I am a volunteer within ‘Sussex’ St John Ambulance as the Human Resources Lead & National Wellbeing Team supporting volunteers with their volunteering journey learning and developing new skills.
Jodie Hart
Funeral Director, Hailsham and Polegate
Jodie Hart
Funeral Director, Hailsham and Polegate
I have been a Funeral Director with Haine & Son for over 7 years and look forward to many more in the future. It was a great honour to receive my diploma in Funeral Directing a couple of years ago after training for a few years to obtain. I love meeting and helping families in their time of need. Hearing people’s life stories and trying to personalise the funeral around this is very rewarding. I also love being involved in community events such as our monthly coffee mornings held here at the Polegate office. As a team we also enjoy putting together our popular window displays which help brighten the high street. I am also a designated Dementia Friend and try to promote making our high street dementia friendly.
Outside of work, my passion in life is horse riding and I have grown up with a love of horses and the outdoors. I love spending time with my family and planning family days out, spending as much time with my husband and soon to be two daughters as much as I can.
Helen Coote
Memorial Administrator, Eastbourne
Helen Coote
Memorial Administrator, Eastbourne
I have lived and worked in Eastbourne all my life. I have raised three lovely children and now have beautiful grandchildren. I have enjoyed working at Haine & Son for the last 18 years where my role is to help families create a lasting memorial for their loved ones. This takes time, compassion, and creativity to assist families in making their choices. We offer advice and suggestions in our discussions. I take great pleasure in helping families and it makes me happy… when I see them happy with the finished memorial.
Becca Coote
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Eastbourne
Becca Coote
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Eastbourne
I have been working in administration for 9.5 years. I was employed on a casual basis prior to this too for just over a year. I enjoy helping all the funeral directors and helping clients in a very difficult time to take some of the stress off of them. My job involves preparing doctors & donations cheques.
In my spare time, I like to be with my children, making memories with them, my partner and my parents.
Louise Chamberlain
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Eastbourne
Louise Chamberlain
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Eastbourne
I have been working at Haine & Son for nearly 5 years. I love working with and supporting our clients and their families. I also work with a great team. I actually look forward to coming to work in the mornings!
I really enjoy creating the orders of service booklets, I try to make them look as good as possible as the families like to take them home as a keepsake.
Most of my spare time is spent with my daughter at the beach or at the park. I love the summer as it means lots of family BBQs!
Karen Wood
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Hailsham
Karen Wood
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Hailsham
I have now been a Funeral Arranger for 4 years but I have also been a casual bearer during this time. I love meeting and helping new people and trying to make a difficult time a bit easier for them. I have obtained a qualification in bereavement counselling. I love long walks with my new puppy and riding my horses over the South Downs.
Alison Hopkins
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Hailsham
Alison Hopkins
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Hailsham
I have now been a Funeral Arranger for 6 months so I am fairly new to this role. However, I love learning new things at work as it is very varied. Meeting new people and trying to give the families a unique funeral is what it is all about. In my previous job I was a nurse so I am a good first aider. I have recently moved to the area and I am enjoying my new garden.
Rhia Carter
Funeral Director, Polegate
Rhia Carter
Funeral Director, Polegate
I am currently a Trainee Funeral Director for Haine & Son in Polegate. I love the nature of the role and supporting families during very difficult and challenging times. I find helping my families to personalise the funeral very rewarding. I have worked for the company for just over 3 years. I am a real people person. I enjoy working closely with the community and help organise community events.
I love paddling boarding with my family and being close to the water. I also enjoy going for long walks with our family dog. I have in recent years started felting, which has come in useful whilst helping decorate our window displays for events and special occasions.
Robert Duffield
Trainee Funeral Director, Eastbourne
Maria Strudwick
Emblamer, Eastbourne
Maria Strudwick
Emblamer, Eastbourne
I have been working as an embalmer across the family business for 5 ½ years. However, I have been in this profession for 26 years doing a variety of roles including chauffer bearer and Funeral Director. Predominantly my main role has always been as a Qualified Embalmer, which is where I am the most happiest . I love my job as this is the last thing anyone could ever do for someone. It can give them their dignity back and to help the families with their grieving. I find it a real honour. We are a small team of 5 dedicated, passionate, and above all respectful and diverse team.
In my spare time, I love to be with my family engaging in various activities such as skiing, paddle-boarding, cooking and holidaying. I live 2 minutes from the South Downs and love walking my son's French bulldog who seems to know the most direct route to a country pub!
Nicola Woodgate
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Battle
Nicola Woodgate
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Battle
I have been a funeral arranger for the Battle branch for 4 years now. My work as a funeral arranger is a fulfilling role. I enjoy my work a lot, meeting families, engaging with the community and being able to support our elderly by being friendly, listening and smiling. It’s a privilege to be able to help grieving families at a time when everything seems so hard to families, and it is so lovely when a family comes in after the funeral and is pleased that their loved one was looked after and the funeral was what they wanted and more.
I have learnt so many skills during my time as a funeral arranger, but it is my people skills which have really improved!
When I am not at work, my hobbies include reading, walking my mammoth German Shepherd BEAR and gardening. The gardening has been a great talking point with Beautiful Battle (a team who keeps Battle looking so lovely with planters, tackling graffiti, and being involved with events). Haine and Son Battle sponsor the flower bed outside of our branch, and it’s lovely to chat with the volunteers as they weed and look after the plants.
Gabby Kinsella
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Battle
Gabby Kinsella
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Battle
I’ve been with the Battle Branch, since September 2021, training as a Funeral Arranger/Administrator. I have a background in Special Educational Needs, working across primary schools, health & social care and a family centre. Specialising in Autism Spectrum Condition.
In the mid 90’s I trained in Bereavement and Loss with CRUSE. I have also worked as a job coach for young people. Alongside this, I’ve trained within the field of Complementary Therapies. Since 2012, I was asked to officiate ceremonies for friends, including funerals and was on a team running a ‘Death Café’ for 5 years. In August of last year, I took a preparatory course, looking at the role of End of Life Doulas. I have an interest in Interfaith ceremonies including ‘Ceremonial Care of the Body.’ My hobbies include singing and dancing, especially to 60’s music. I have sung in a band, mostly covers. We had one gig and then the band split up!
Paula Charnley
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Polegate
Paula Charnley
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Polegate
I have a 30-year background in nursing which has given me many skills that have been useful for my role as a funeral arranger. I have obtained my Diploma in Funeral Arranging and I am currently enjoying studying for my Diploma in Funeral Directing. My big passion is reading, and I can often be found in coffee shops with my head in a book. I also enjoy exploring new places, both home and abroad, photographing my experiences as I go.
Venessa Hall
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Polegate
Venessa Hall
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Polegate
I am the newest member of the Polegate team. I have 30 years experience as a Registered Nurse, allowing me to develop many skills relevant to my new role as Funeral Arranger and Administrator. I am a huge Moto GP and WSBK fan and try to visit race circuits whenever I can. I enjoy walking with my husband especially in new places.
Shaun Walster
Trainee Funeral Director, Eastbourne
Tanya Martins
Funeral Arranger and Administrator, Eastbourne
Business Policies
More information on our Business terms and conditions and Charitable donations can be found below.
