A coffin factory with heart

23 April 2026 The UK’s only coffin factory sits in the quiet industrial roads between Glasgow’s IKEA and the big QE2 hospital. A very nice man called David took me on a tour of it back when I was writing the Co-op Digital newsletter. We followed the journey as wood became a coffin became memories, meeting the people that worked the cutting, shaping, sizing, spraying, fittings, interior and finishing stations. The thing that still stands out 10 years after that visit is this: the people that worked there told stories of going the extra mile, for instance sourcing tassels to help make a child’s coffin match its football theme. They had such pride in the craft, and such care for the families. A factory with heart! It was incredibly inspiring, and helped me properly understand how a co-op is different to other big retail companies. And this moment informed how the newsletter looked at co-operatives, retail and digital. So this makes me sad: Eighty jobs at risk as Glasgow coffin factory…