Clare Montagu’s career – so far – has been far from conventional. Fresh out of Oxford University and London School of Economics, Clare got stuck into the world of politics, including two years working for Tony Blair when he was PM. In recent years, she’s been in the business of death and dying, most recently running a disruptive funeral business in London. So strap yourself in for an interesting conversation we should all be having … long before we need to.
Podcast introduction:
Meet Clare Montagu. As you’ve just briefly heard, she’s been both fascinated with and actively involved in politics from a very young age. So it’s no surprise that after graduating from Oxford University and further study at the London School of Economics, she found herself in the halls of Westminster and eventually in the Office of the Prime Minister working for Tony Blair.
What possibly is surprising is that since that time, Clare has moved into the world of death and dying. Up until a few years ago she was Chief Operating Officer at Royal Trinity Hospice in London. The hospice has around 2,500 people on its books at any given time, looked after by 200 staff and 300 volunteers. Clare was responsible for all aspects of the hospice’s £15 million per annum operational business. And it was in this role that Clare found herself when, in March 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. It wasn’t a great time for any of us, but being in the business of hospice, you can imagine the intense pressure and horrible uncertainty Claire was faced with, almost overnight. We’ll hear more about that shortly.
Today, Clare is CEO of Poppy’s – a non-traditional, innovative and some might say disruptive funeral service based in South London but serving the greater London area. And Clare and her team are doing a great deal to shake the industry up – and for very good reason.
So in this interview we talk about death, dying, what happens after you die and all of the details which people often don’t want to discuss until someone close to them dies. As a bonus, we also get a glimpse of what it’s like working at number 10 for a charismatic prime minister. Spoiler alert: it’s a cross between two TV shows you might have watched.
I caught up with Clare at one of the Poppy’s high street funeral stores in South London – in East Sheen to be specific. It wasn’t what I expected – it was less like a Funeral Director’s office and more like a funky travel agent or a boutique gift shop. She even made a decent coffee, and the sun made it all the way into the meeting room.
Two quick warnings for you – Clare talks about what happens to us after we die. But she does so very sensitively, so you’ll be okay. Secondly, because we delve so deeply into the death and dying theme, this interview is a bit longer than usual, so perhaps brew an extra strong pot of coffee.
So now I give you the extraordinary Clare Montagu.
