在中国已经见怪不怪的哭丧服务开始在英国崭露头角，而且服务还相当“专业”呢。英国这家哭丧服务机构位于艾塞克斯郡布伦特里，每小时的服务费为45英镑（约合人民币424元）。据该机构创立者介绍，受雇前去参加葬礼的哭丧人员会在事前了解逝者的生平，在葬礼过程中他们可以跟逝者的亲人朋友自如交流、悉心安慰，不会让人们感觉他们是陌生人。这家机构成立于去年1月，目前有20名员工，自成立到现在已接到52个订单。这位负责人坦承，他创立该机构是受中国哭丧业务的启发；同时他也表示，中东国家的葬礼上也会有人哭丧，这与英国式安静、肃穆的葬礼风格完全不同。他表示，他们的哭丧人员在葬礼中的主要作用不是嚎啕大哭，而是增加送别逝者的人数。

 

British mourners are renting "professional sobbers" to blub at funerals to make people believe the deceased was really popular.

 

For £45 an hour, the fake mourners can be rented to cry for the duration of a funeral service in order to swell the numbers at funerals.

 

Ian Robertson, the founder of Rent-a-Mourner, in Braintree, Essex, admits the idea may be unfamiliar to the British, although the phenomenon is popular in places such as Asia.

 

The mourners-for-hire are briefed on the life of the deceased and would be able to talk to friends and relatives as if they really had known their loved one.

 

Rent-a-Mourner has 20 staff on its books to hire out for funerals, which Mr Robertson said were friends of his rather than professional actors.

 

He added that they are not required to well up, but are mainly there just to make up the numbers.

 

"We were actually inspired by the market growth in China," said Mr Robertson.

 

"The Middle Eastern way is to provide wailers - crying women - as opposed to the quiet, dignified methods we use.

 

"Our staff will meet with the client beforehand and agree 'the story', so our staff will either have known the deceased professionally or socially. They will be informed of the deceased's background, achievements, failures etc. so they can converse with other mourners with confidence."

 

Mr Robertson set up Rent-a-Mourner in January last year, and said he has had 52 bookings since the company began, with 15 in the first six months.

 

"It is growing in the UK - our bookings are up 50 percent year on year," he said.

 

He added that his biggest source of his bookings were for funerals in Hull, and has sent staff to 12 funerals there, adding that he could not explain why that area showed the biggest demand.

 

The company also has plans to expand, after having to turn down more than 60 requests because the funerals were too far away for the fake mourners to get to.

 

Consumer expert Jasmine Birtles, who conducted the research, believes multi-cultural Britain is experiencing a "cultural shift in the way its mourners say their final farewell.

 

Birtles, the founder of personal finance site MoneyMagpie.com, said: "Hiring a stranger to weep at a funeral may seem strange, but it's a deep-seated tradition in the East.

 

"It's still a niche market at the moment but demand for professional mourners is increasing year on year as more people from East Asian and Middle Eastern countries move to the UK, bringing their customs with them.

 

"The rise in popularity shows a cultural shift taking place in how we choose to pay our last respects and like with many other cultural imports, it's only a matter of time before it crosses over into mainstream culture."

 

"At the moment it's not the sort of thing most people can treat as a career, but if it continues to increase in popularity then crying on demand could soon become a highly-prized skill."