About Us

Fred founded Story Construction

Story Construction was founded by Fred Story in 1987. The business incorporated what is now Story Homes and Story Contracting. Right at the start, Fred had just three colleagues working with him on a variety of projects in and around Carlisle.

Story win first contract

Story win first contract for a BP Filling Station in Barrow for £513.00

Story win first local authority contract for Cumbria County Council

Story win first local authority contract in May 1988 for new footpaths in Dalston, Carlisle for £8,629

First development completed

Story Construction complete their first ever development of new homes in the village of Thurstonfield near Carlisle.

Fred employs his first team

Story Construction expand their team taking the headcount to 12.

Story move into their first office

Fred leaves his bedroom office to a portakabin in the garden.

Story win first £1m contract

Story win their first ever £1m contract to build new cinema in Botchergate, Carlisle.

Story win first house building award

Story win their first award for housing on a 12 house scheme at Moorhouse Village for ‘Quality in the Residential Environment’ from the Royal Town Planning Institute.

The team move into Burgh Road Industrial Estate

Fred and his team move from his portakabin in his back garden to a four acre site at Burgh Road, Carlisle which is still the Story Contracting head office today.

Story employ 100

The team at Story reach 100 in 12 years.

Story purchase first Road Rail Vehicle

Story purchase their first Road Rail Vehicle, a specialist machine for working on the Rail Infrastructure.

Story purchase largest piece of land

Story purchased Carlton Village site for £1.3m for the development of 400 new home, the largest site to date.

Story acquired Point On Trackwork

Story acquired Point On Trackwork, a Carlisle based company that provides skilled labour to the railway industry. The company was rebranded and named Story Point On Trackwork.

House Building splits from Construction

The house building business splits from Story Construction with the formation of Story Homes.

Story Rail was formed

In 2001, Story Point On Trackwork Ltd becomes Story Rail.

Story Group ranked as one of the UKs fastest growing companies

Story ranked in the Sunday Times Profit Track 100 with an average annual sales growth of 40% over the previous five years reaching a turnover of £30m.

Story mark first apartment development

Story Homes unveil Reiver statue on Scotland Road, Carlisle marking the first apartment development.

Fred named ‘Director Of The Year’

Fred Story is named Cumbrian Director of the Year in recognition of his businesses growth and support back into the Cumbrian economy.

Story named Carillion's 'Sub-Contractor of the Year'

Story is named Carrillion ‘Sub-contractor of the Year’ delivering numerous renewal projects on the West Coast Mainline. Works were carried out using Road Rail Vehicles, a first for the rail infrastructure!

Story celebrate 25th anniversary

Story Contracting and Story Homes celebrate 25 years in business with colleagues and their families at a celebration event in Carlisle hosted by Fred.

Story Group split into two separate companies

Story Group split to form two distinct companies, Story Homes and Story Contracting.  Both with ambitious plans for the future.

Milverton picks up Institute of Civil Engineering Award

Story Contracting in partnership with Network Rail picked up an ICE West Midlands Award in the ‘Construction’ category.

Story Contracting opens new depot in Yorkshire

Story Contracting open new depot in Normanton, West Yorkshire to expand regional delivery in the North East. Home to a fleet of plant machinery and the Rail division’s LNE team.

Story Contracting acquire rail plant division of Caledonian Industrial

Story doubles the size of in-house fleet to more than 50 vehicles expanding national footprint and support to customers. 17 staff from Caledonian transfer to Story including a refurbishment of the new Edinburgh depot in Bonnyrigg.

Story Contracting's Plant division win two Network Rail Awards

Story’s Plant Division pick up two Network Rail RRV Awards recognising Story as  ‘Most Improved’ and the industry leading ‘Best On Track Operator’.

Merseyloop picks up Construction Award

Story Contracting pick up a NW Regional Construction Award for ‘Integration and Collaboration’ for the Merseyloop slab track project after being shortlisted in three categories.

Story Contracting named Network Rail’s Supplier of the Year

Story Contracting named best rail infrastructure supplier in the UK, the highest accolade for any contractor working with Network Rail on the Rail Infrastructure.

Story Contracting secures biggest ever contract

Story Contracting win it’s biggest ever contract, an £8 million Opacification Plant for Innovia Security in Wigton.

Story Contracting win record £100 million rail framework

Story Contracting create 40 new jobs after securing a record £100 million framework contract with Network Rail through CP5.

Story Contracting win UK Rail Industry Award

Story picked up ‘Outstanding Project’ at the UK Rail Industry Awards for eliminating one of the top risk level crossings in the country. Pleasington Overbridge Construction in Lancashire used a FlexiArch solution which was a first for the rail infrastructure.

Story Contracting open new Training Centre

The brand new Story Training Centre built by Story’s Construction division at the Burgh Road site was opened by Nexus apprentice Josh Forster.

Story Contracting ranked as one of the fastest growing in the UK

Story Contracting was ranked in the Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 league table at number 33 along with Story Homes at 87. A unique position, to have two companies rank in the same league owned by the same person.

Pleasington pick up second award at the Network Rail Partnership Awards

Story win Best Project (Small) at the Network Rail Partnership Awards for the innovative solution to close the existing high-risk level crossing at Pleasington Golf course in Lancashire.

Reiver Homes is launched

Story Contracting launches its housing division ‘Reiver Homes’ in April 2015, specialising in small to medium sized luxury developments in Cumbria and South West Scotland.

Story Contracting win Institution of Civil Engineering Award

Story’s Rail division pick up the Smeaton Award at the ICE Yorkshire and Humber Civil Engineering Awards for the complex reconstruction of Scarborough Bridge in the centre of York.

Story Contracting purchase 500th construction vehicle

V500 marks the purchase of our 500th construction vehicle (not counting all of our Plant machinery!). V500 truck is both a landmark for our Plant division and also indicates the strong growth that our business is experiencing.

Story Contracting appoint employee 500

145 staff joined Story Contracting over the last year, setting a new record for the number of new recruits in a year by the company. This takes Story Contracting’s workforce to 500 for the first time in their 29 years of operating.

Story Contracting Awarded Two National Plant Machinery Awards

Story Contracting was awarded ‘Most Improved RRV Operator’ and ‘Share with Pride Champion’  at the Rail Live Awards 2016 – recognised for the developments, practices and machinery that make Story one of the best operators on the Rail Infrastructure.

Story Contracting head office doubles in size

Story Contracting invests £1.5 million in extending its Carlisle Head Office, increasing the total space to 25,000sqft and making room for 100 new starters in the 12 months.

Story win Most Interesting Original Project award

Story’s Rail division was awarded ‘Most Interesting Original Project’ for the new rail connection to Arcow Quarry. Story provided the design and implementation of the track and civils works.

Story Contracting appoints new CEO

Story Contracting appointed Jason Butterworth as Chief Executive Officer. Jason replaced Fred Story, the founder and owner of Story Contracting, who resumed the role of Chairman.

Story achieve Bronze Medal on 'Route to Gold'

Story’s Plant division become one of only two companies in the UK to be awarded the Bronze Medal on Network Rail’s Route to Gold Scheme in recognition of outstanding plant performance.

Story win ICE award for 'Best Community Project'

Story’s Construction division win ‘Best Community Project’ at the North West ICE (Institution of Civil Engineers) awards for their Currock Bridge Cycleway works.

Story win prestigious RoSPA award for Health & Safety

Story Contracting achieve the ‘Gold’ award in the highly regarded annual scheme run by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), in recognition of excellent health & safety practice across all areas of the business.

Story Contracting feature in '1000 Companies to Inspire Britain' list

Story Contracting listed in the London Stock Exchange Group’s annual ‘1000 Companies to Inspire Britain’ report following sustained growth and business performance.

Double win at ICE Awards

Story Contracting’s Mersey Loop Track Slab project wins ‘Project of the Year’ at the Institution of Civil Engineering (ICE) Awards, with the Eden Brows project ‘Commended Excellence’ in the same category.

Story hit Gold on Network Rail Route to Gold

Story Contracting presented with GOLD on Network Rail’s Route to Gold with only 1 other supplier in the UK receiving the accolade awarded in recognition of reliability statistics, behaviours and continuous improvement.

Success for Eden Brows at Rail Partnership Awards

Story win ‘Best Small Project (under £25 million)’ at the Rail Partnership Awards 2018 for the repair works completed at Eden Brows on the Settle to Carlisle railway line.

Story welcome employee 700

Paul Jameson joins Story’s Plant division as a Fabricator/Welder, taking the company’s number of employees to 700 for the first time.

Story Contracting and Story Homes transform vital Carlisle Lighthouse service for mental health charity Mind

Story Contracting and Story Homes have joined forces to renovate Carlisle Eden Mind’s Lighthouse, as part of our two-year commitment to support mental health charity Mind.

18 subcontractors who work alongside both Contracting and Homes have kindly offered their materials, labour and time to help renovate The Lighthouse to make it a more comfortable area for those who need to use the facility.

Network Rail CP6 Framework Success for Story Scotland

Network Rail has announced that Story Contracting has won a framework contract to deliver up to £135m of renewal and enhancement projects in Scotland over the next five years.

£38m Network Rail contract win for London North Western

Story has been awarded framework contracts for structures work on the South of the LNW (London North Western) rail route, which covers Crewe to London, and property work from Preston to Crewe. The LNW route is home to the West Coast Mainline, which is the busiest mixed use railway in Europe and supports the major British cities outside of London.

Story secures £50m Network Rail contract for London North Eastern

Story has been awarded a five-year framework contract worth up to £50m to carry out geotechnical work on the LNE (London North Eastern) route over Control Period 6 (CP6) – Network Rail’s five year programme of work to be completed between 2019 and 2024. The route stretches from the capital city to Scotland.

Story Contracting welcomes first ever cohort of Scottish apprentices

Story Scotland welcomed their first cohort of apprentices, with six new starters joining the team as Apprentice General Operatives. These new apprentice roles at Story Scotland are an important step for the business in encouraging the recruitment of future talent within the Scottish construction industry.

Fifth Access For All Scheme delivered in Scotland

Story Scotland completed their fifth successful AFA scheme in Kilmarnock on behalf of Network Rail. Train travel to and from the Scottish burgh, Kilmarnock, is set to become a lot easier thanks to the major engineering project at the station.

Trio of senior promotions also announced after multi-million-pound contract wins

Following this year of record growth, Story is pleased to announce three senior promotions across the business.

From 01 February, Ian Purdham and John MacArthur will become, respectively, Managing Directors of Story Contracting’s Rail England and Story Scotland divisions. In addition, Frank McFadden will take on the role of Rail Technical Assurance Director.

Story Scotland welcomes employee 100

Ben Seruvatu became employee 100 for the Glasgow-based division, joining the company as a Skilled Operative at the beginning of 2019.

Story deliver new platforms for Edinburgh Waverley

Edinburgh Waverley’s newly-extended platforms 5 and 6 have now entered service. Story Contracting are proud to have delivered this work in Scotland’s second-busiest station on behalf of Network Rail.

Emma Porter returns to Story Contracting as Construction Director

Leading the way for women in male dominated industries, Emma returned to award-winning infrastructure company Story Contracting as Construction Director in April 2019, overseeing a forecast £30m turnover for the Construction team in 2019/20.

York office opens following framework success

Award-winning civil engineering and infrastructure company Story Contracting is set for expansion in Yorkshire after opening a new office in York.

The new regional office, which opened on the 1^st April 2019, has been established to help the company’s rail division to deliver a Network Rail framework contract for one of England’s main rail routes.

Second Gold award for Plant team

Story Contracting is delighted to announce that its Plant team have successfully retained Gold on Network Rail’s Route to Gold scheme for the second year in a row.

Double victory for Story Contracting at the Rail Partnership Awards

Story Contracting celebrates taking home two accolades at this year’s prestigious Rail Partnership Awards.

Up against some of the biggest names in the industry, the family-owned civil engineering company scooped the ‘Investing in People’ and the ‘Community Engagement’ awards at the ceremony which celebrates the very best of 2018’s achievements in the rail industry.