Heather Washbrook was a funeral director in the family firm of G. Washbrook and Son. Terminally-ill Hayley Cropper chose the firm to handle her own arrangements, knowing that she only had a short time to live. She had to get Roy there under a subterfuge as he wasn't willing to face the reality of her oncoming death and once he realised where they were headed, she virtually had to beg him to enter the premises. Once inside, Hayley started to have second thoughts but Heather appeared from the back office and bade them enter.
She asked when the deceased had passed away but wasn't disconcerted to find that her client was sat in front of her. She assured Hayley that many people in her circumstances made visits of this nature, wanting to avoid the loved ones having to make decisions under difficult circumstances when the time came. Heather also realised that the entire conversation was a considerable ordeal for Roy and quietly assured them both that their instructions would be carried out to the letter. Nevertheless, she gave them a moment alone to discuss the matter. Hayley later admitted that when the moment came, she also wasn't able to face the matter.
Hayley subsequently died on 20th January 2014. Roy was unable in many ways to come to terms with his grief and one way in which this was demonstrated was in the matter of collecting Hayley's ashes from Washbrook's. It was almost two months before he made the trip back to the funeral parlour where again he hesitated on the threshold. Heather saw him from within and he stammered an excuse that he was just window shopping. Fiz Stape and Chesney Brown caught up with him and Roy told them that he couldn't bring himself to collect but Fiz replied that she knew it was hard but he had to do it. Heather gave them the ashes which were, at Hayley's request, in a box made of biodegradable materials and asked Roy to sign for them. Even then it took Roy another eleven months before he could bring himself to scatter Hayley's remains in his chosen location - North Cross Park where the two had first kissed in July 1998.