Encore Digital Platforms support earlier planning, reduce pressure on funeral professionals and open up new pre-need opportunities
Two new digital platforms designed to help people plan for death and document their wishes are launching with a clear ambition to support funeral directors by addressing the UK’s widespread reluctance to engage with end-of-life planning.
Founded by former Virgin and WPP executive Nick Annetts, Encore Digital Platforms provide a structured and accessible way for individuals to record personal wishes, practical arrangements and messages for loved ones, long before they are needed.
For funeral professionals, working with unprepared families remains a daily challenge. Conversations are often rushed, decisions made under pressure, and important details unknown.
Encore aims to change that by encouraging earlier, more open engagement with end-of-life planning. By capturing wishes in advance, the platform helps ensure funeral directors are working with clearer guidance, reducing uncertainty and enabling more personalised services.
Nick Annetts, Founder of Encore Digital Platforms, said, “Funeral directors play an essential role at one of the most difficult moments in people’s lives but too often, families arrive without the information or clarity they need. Encore is designed to support both sides, helping individuals prepare, while giving funeral professionals a stronger foundation to work from.”
The platform allows users to document key preferences, from funeral wishes to personal messages and life reflections, in a private Encore that is only released on their passing. This can significantly ease the administrative and emotional burden on families and those supporting them.
For funeral homes, Encore also acts as a complementary pre-need planning tool, helping guide clients through decisions in a structured and approachable way, while offering a new revenue opportunity through enhanced pre-need engagement and value-added services.
Encore’s two platforms provide support across the full end-of-life journey.
For My Encore enables individuals to document their life story, funeral wishes and personal messages during their lifetime, giving funeral professionals valuable clarity ahead of time. For Their Encore provides a dedicated space for families and friends to create tribute pages after a death, celebrating a life while raising funds for a chosen charity.
Together, the platforms offer funeral professionals a continuous way to support families before, during and after the arrangement process.
The launch comes as organisations such as Dying Matters Coalition continue to highlight the UK’s discomfort around death, with many people still avoiding conversations or planning altogether. By normalising these discussions earlier, Encore supports both families and funeral professionals, enabling more informed decisions and less pressured arrangements.
Grief counsellor Nicky Harper added, “I can see creating an Encore, either for yourself or a loved one, being a very therapeutic process. The guided questions help trigger positive memories and experiences, and it becomes something families will return to again and again.”
Funeral professionals interested in exploring how Encore can support their services can find out more at [email protected]
