Meet the team

Howard Rawlings

CEO

Howard has nearly 40 years’ experience building and growing technology businesses. He’s worked with global brands like GE, M&S, and Novartis, but what sets him apart is his ability to turn complex needs into practical digital solutions.

Since co-founding Funeral Manager NexGen, Howard has spent years working closely with funeral directors of all sizes, listening to their challenges and shaping software that makes their day-to-day easier. His focus is always on keeping the technology simple, reliable, and genuinely useful.

Mark Robinson

CFO

Mark is a Chartered Management Accountant with four decades of leadership experience. Alongside his corporate career, he has been a director at Daniel Robinson & Sons since 1989, helping the family business grow from four to 22 branches and supporting thousands of families each year.

Drawing on his deep understanding of funeral operations and finance, Mark has been central to the rebuilding of the latest version of Funeral Manager from the ground up. He continues to guide the business with insight, stability, and a clear focus on supporting the profession.

Niki Ward

Head of Customer Success

Niki spent 12 years working in the police service as a senior data analyst, where accuracy and clear communication were key. She later went on to run her own successful e-commerce business, gaining first-hand experience of delivering excellent customer service at scale.

At Funeral Manager, Niki leads customer success guiding funeral directors through onboarding, delivering clear and practical training, and ensuring they continue to get the most from the software as their needs evolve.

Having worked with a wide range of funeral directors and teams, she brings a depth of knowledge that allows her to quickly understand different ways of working and tailor support to each customer’s needs.

Will Ward

Head of Business Development

Will built his career in financial services, spending over 15 years in leadership roles focused on sustainability, communications, and organisational change. Working in highly regulated environments gave him a deep understanding of the complexities businesses face when adopting new systems.

At Funeral Manager, he uses that experience to help funeral directors introduce technology with confidence, making the process clear, manageable, and beneficial from day one. Will is passionate about building genuine partnerships and keeping the needs of funeral directors at the heart of every conversation.

Ruth Proudfoot

Customer Success & Training Manager

Ruth guides customers through onboarding, training, and day-to-day success with Funeral Manager. Her background in digital transformation and the charity sector means she understands how to make change feel manageable and positive.

Funeral directors value her calm, empathetic approach, which helps them and their teams build confidence through training and continue using the software to its full potential.

Zina Daniielian

Customer Support Engineer

Zina is known for her warm, friendly approach and the strong relationships she builds with customers. She listens carefully, responds promptly, and makes sure every query is handled with care.

Working closely with the wider team, she ensures funeral directors and their staff always get the support they need, delivered in a way that feels approachable and personal.

Sasha Larina

Customer Support Engineer

Sasha is often the first point of contact for customers who need a quick answer or a little extra help. She responds promptly to support requests, improves documentation, and makes sure feedback from funeral directors feeds straight back into the product.

Her calm, detail-driven approach means customers can trust that problems will be solved quickly and effectively.

Joshua Rowley

CTO

Joshua leads the technical delivery of Funeral Manager. He works closely with the team to develop new features, support developers, and oversee code quality and performance.

From reviewing tests to exploring emerging technologies, he ensures our platform continues to evolve in line with customer needs.

Priyanka Vishwakarma

Developer

Prianka supports platform development with a focus on clean, reliable code. She contributes to both ongoing feature enhancements and behind-the-scenes improvements to keep everything running seamlessly.

Anastasiia Ovcharenko

Developer

Anastasia works across both front-end and back-end development, helping to implement new features and optimise the user experience.