Story Homes has partnered with Anderton Concrete to utilise its unique Stepoc concrete shuttering technology to construct retaining walls as part of the development of 40 residential dwellings in Greystoke, West of Penrith. As the ground across the site was uneven in places, retaining walls of up to 1.8metres were
Story Homes and Story Contracting have joined forces to raise more than £28,000 for mental health charity Mind. Over the past two years, the companies selected Mind as their charity partner, with all staff and business fundraising going to this worthwhile organisation. Staff across the two businesses carried out various fundraising activities to raise money for
Housing developer Story Homes is delighted to announce that it has been recognised by the prestigious UK Property Awards, winning three accolades for ‘Best Residential Development’. Aspen Grange in Carlisle, Chancel Place in Longhoughton and Willows Edge in Wrea Green have all beaten strong competition to win an award for
Story Homes, the award-winning housebuilder, had been listed in The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 for the fourth consecutive year, breaking a record by being listed for the seventh time overall. The annual league table is in its 19th year and it ranks Britain’s top 100 private companies with
Story Homes, the award-winning house builder has worked on more than 35 development schemes across Cumbria, the North West and North East of England and Southern Scotland. The company announced last week that they will be taking on twelve new apprentices and four graduates in order to develop young talent.
Story Homes has partnered with Anderton Concrete to utilise its unique Stepoc concrete shuttering technology to construct retaining walls as part of the development of 40 residential dwellings in Greystoke, West of Penrith. As the ground across the site was uneven in places, retaining walls of up to 1.8metres were required to ensure an optimal construction was achieved. However, once ground was broken, an unexpected incline of almost 2.5metres between three pairs of gardens was uncovered. This left the developers with a new challenge to ensure the difference in height was addressed by retaining the ground safely and quickly to minimise any potential disruption to the build and maximise on site efficiencies. Story Homes considered several retaining wall possibilities but specified Anderton Concrete’s Stepoc shuttering system because of its quick installation traits and ability to retain ground up to 4.0metres in height. “The initial design details for the scheme were based on a series of smaller garden retaining walls to create back to back terraced gardens, the details employed at this stage were in line with our internal standard suite of retaining wall designs. In order to bring improvements to these garden areas whilst balancing cost, buildability and space on site we decided to utilise the Anderton Concrete Stepoc system,” explains Scott Bradshaw, Engineering Manager, Cumbria and Scotland, Story Homes. “The slenderness of the Stepoc wall meant that with restricted space on the site, the overall amount of slope that had to be cut back could be reduced, saving precious time. This was the same with the overall speed of installation, which was swift and primarily enabled by the lack of steel fixing required in the stem.” Stepoc’s precast concrete block technology is unique in its versatility to facilitate the construction of retaining walls for multiple applications. Story Homes had previously specified the technology, but it was a first for the company’s Site Manager, Paul Woodruff, who was impressed with its wholesale benefits and adaptability. Stepoc’s ability to solve the problem of a considerable incline between gardens was achieved because of its flexible construction and ease of installation. As the wall can be laid dry, it saves valuable time, whilst the concrete pour cascades inside the wall, meaning minimal mess and maintenance. It can also be installed in various weather conditions, meaning no lengthy delays to overall construction times. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Story Homes and Story Contracting have joined forces to raise more than £28,000 for mental health charity Mind. Over the past two years, the companies selected Mind as their charity partner, with all staff and business fundraising going to this worthwhile organisation. Staff across the two businesses carried out various fundraising activities to raise money for the charity – from sporting challenges and bake sales, to raffles and pub quizzes. Following the sizable monetary donation, the businesses – which were both founded by Fred Story – are delighted to announce that they will extend their charity partnership with Mind, dedicating colleague and company fundraising to the mental health organisation. Mind provides advice and support to anyone experiencing a mental health problem, and the funds raised by Homes and Contracting will be divided between the local Mind branches in each of the companies’ operational regions – including Carlisle, Newcastle, Lancashire, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham and Scotland. Fred Story, founder of both businesses, said: “We are delighted to be continuing our partnership with Mind. Working within construction, we understand the importance of improving mental health and we are dedicated to ensuring that nobody suffers in silence. There can be a certain stigma associated with mental health and wellbeing, especially in young men, but it is a subject that we need to continue to talk about and ensure that we have the right support networks in place across our two businesses.” Tara Quinn, CEO of Carlisle Eden Mind, said: “Once again, Carlisle Eden Mind are excited to have the support of Story Homes and Story Contracting particularly in a time of great uncertainty. We would like to thank both organisations for their much-needed contributions and every penny, as always, will go towards those we are here to help and support.” Tommy McIlravey, CEO of Lancashire Mind, said: “On behalf of everyone at Lancashire Mind, and those who access our services, I would like to thank Story Homes and Story Contracting for this generous donation and their ongoing support. Given the times we find ourselves in donations such as this mean more than ever to Lancashire Mind and enable us to continue to work with individuals and communities across the county.” These are just a few of the worrying statistics about mental health within the construction industry: A construction worker is more likely to die of suicide than a fall from height Males working in skilled trades have a 35% higher risk of suicide than the male national average Every year over 400 construction workers commit suicide The risk of suicide among male labourers is three times higher than the male national average 55% of workers have experienced mental health issues in their lives Almost half of women working in the sector are dealing with poor mental health
Housing developer Story Homes is delighted to announce that it has been recognised by the prestigious UK Property Awards, winning three accolades for ‘Best Residential Development’. Aspen Grange in Carlisle, Chancel Place in Longhoughton and Willows Edge in Wrea Green have all beaten strong competition to win an award for the Best Residential Development in the Cumbria, Northumberland and Lancashire categories, respectively. Now in its 26th year, the UK Property Awards are the most demanding and rigorous in the property sector. The awards are judged by an independent panel of over 80 industry experts, focussing on design, quality, service, innovation, originality and commitment to sustainability. The level of the awards that Story Homes has won will be revealed at the awards ceremony which will take place on 25 October 2019 at The Royal Lancaster hotel, London. The highest-scoring winners from each region will be entered into the overall International Awards, which ultimately determine the world’s finest property companies. Colin Wood, Chief Operating Officer at Story Homes said: “We are very proud that three of our developments have won UK Property Awards – it is fantastic to be recognised by the industry for our hard work. We take great pride in achieving the highest standards, from the overall design of a development through to the individual finishing on each property, and these wins really demonstrate the care and attention to detail that goes into the homes that we build.” Founded in 1987 by current CEO Fred Story, Story Homes is a housing developer building more than 900 new homes in 2019/20 across Cumbria, North West and North East England and Southern Scotland. The housebuilder’s mission is to design and build quality homes that people aspire to live in. As a family-owned business, Story Homes goes to great lengths to craft houses that are not only strong in build, but in character too. It is proud to challenge the conventions of mass produced new-builds and stand apart from the crowd. For more information please contact Katie Brown, Communications Partner on 01228 891528 or email katie.brown@storyhomes.co.uk.
Story Homes, the award-winning housebuilder, had been listed in The Sunday Times BDO Profit Track 100 for the fourth consecutive year, breaking a record by being listed for the seventh time overall. The annual league table is in its 19th year and it ranks Britain’s top 100 private companies with the fastest growing profits. Apart from being mentioned in this year’s ranking, Storey Homes received recognition in other high profile league tables in recent years, including the Virgin Fast Track 100 and Grant Thornton Top Track 250. In addition, the housebuilder has also retained the maximum five-star rating for customer satisfaction for the fifth consecutive year in the Home Builders Federation (HBF) annual survey, with a customer satisfaction score of 94%. “I am very pleased that we have again made the list of the 100 companies with the fastest-growing profits in the UK, in a year when we have seen the most significant growth in the company’s history as well as various challenges in the construction industry,” said Founder and CEO Fred Story. “We are moving into a year of consolidation for 2018/19, making operational effectiveness our priority to ensure we remain focused on building high quality homes, providing an excellent sales journey to customers and ensuring that customers are fully satisfied and supported once they move into their new homes,” he continued. Story Homes is an award-winning property developer with more than 35 schemes in Cumbria, North West and North East England and southern Scotland. Renowned for building high specification homes of excellent quality, Story Homes is committed to sustainability and contributing to the communities in which it builds. The company has been consistently recognised in the prestigious UK Property Awards since 2011. In 2017, Story Homes won three awards in the ‘Best Residential Development’ category, with Strawberry Grange in Cockermouth, Oakland Park in Morpeth, and D’Urton Manor in Preston all receiving accolades. Story Homes was also named Housebuilder of the Year at the Insider North West Property Awards 2017.
Story Homes, the award-winning house builder has worked on more than 35 development schemes across Cumbria, the North West and North East of England and Southern Scotland. The company announced last week that they will be taking on twelve new apprentices and four graduates in order to develop young talent. Story Homes has consistently committed to reducing the skills deficit and creating opportunities for the next generation of the industry to get started with their career. The property development company has apprenticeships and graduate schemes which form an essential part of their business development strategy. Taking on graduates and apprentices allows the company to work towards their ambitious future plans as well as do their part to reduce the skills gap present and causing concern in the industry. The development company operate their own Aspire Apprentice Scheme that was first launched in 2016. The scheme looks to recruit the brightest talent from 16 and above. The apprentices as part of this scheme take on a full development programme that involves them working towards their NVQ Level 2 or Level 3. The apprentices will receive on the job training and are also given the opportunity to move in to trainee management at the end of their programme. The apprentices that have most recently been appointed are bricklaying, joinery and technical trainees who will be working right across Story Homes; key regions before getting to work in their roles on site and in the office. The apprentices have already completed a five-day residential team building and induction programme which was designed to boost their confidence as well as their problem solving skills from the beginning of their training. The graduate programme is in its third year and the recent intake: Emma Nolan, a Quantity Surveyor; Joshua Haworth, Technical Designer; Lauren Duckworth, Land Planner and Hannah Richins the Strategic Planner will be working out of Story Homes’ Chorley Office. The graduates are selected for the development company’s graduate scheme through a rigorous assessment at centers earlier this year. These assessments challenged the graduates as well as allowed them to meet a number of senior colleagues.
