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Our Story

Founded in 1987 by Chairman Fred Story, Story Homes is a housing developer with schemes in Cumbria, North West and North East England and southern Scotland.

Our vision is to design and build quality homes that people aspire to live in, and we are proud to build high-quality homes that bring something different to the areas in which we operate.

Fred Story founded Story Construction

1987

Fred Story 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 was working from a bedroom office in his home, with just three colleagues working with him on a variety of projects in and around Carlisle.

First Development Completed

1988

First Development Completed

Story Construction completed their first ever development of new homes, an exclusive scheme with only four properties in the village of Thurstonfield near Carlisle.

Twelve colleagues employed

1989

Twelve colleagues employed

Nine more colleagues joined Fred Story’s team, taking the headcount for Story Construction to 12.

Won our first award for housing

1990

Won our first award for housing

We won our first award for housing on a 12-house scheme at Moorhouse village for 'Quality in the Residential Environment' from the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI).

1000th Sale

2011

1000th Sale

Story celebrates the milestone of building and selling 1,000 homes.

Story Homes was formed

2012

Story Homes was formed

As Story Construction starts to place more and more emphasis on building high quality homes and Story Homes is formed.

Story Homes expands into new Newcastle office

2014

Story Homes expands into new Newcastle office

Story Homes opened its first permanent Newcastle base at the end of September following a £100k re-fit of Panther House at the Newcastle Business Park. The move reflects the growing business in the North East.

Story Homes moves to new headquarters in Carlisle

2015

Story Homes moves to new headquarters in Carlisle

Story Homes sees its head office staff move to Story House at Kingmoor Park. With a state-of-the-art building, the business ensures that its ready for continued growth and success.

Chancellor officially opens Headquarters in Carlisle

2015

Chancellor officially opens Headquarters in Carlisle

Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne cuts the ribbon and officially opens Story House.

Prime Minister visits High Wood, Lancaster

2015

Prime Minister visits High Wood, Lancaster

Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron, and his wife Samantha visited one of our Lancashire developments, and commented on the high quality of our homes.

Story Homes opens new North West office

2015

Story Homes opens new North West office

Story Homes opened its first permanent office at Ackhurst Business Park in Chorley, reflecting the company’s growth and success across the North West region.

Signature Range launched

2017

Signature Range launched

We launched our first Signature Range development – Oakland Park, Morpeth – with 39 large, detached homes that take aspirational living to the next level. The high specification includes Laura Ashley kitchens, bi-fold doors and Inglenook fireplaces.

Fred Story returns as CEO

2018

Fred Story returns as CEO

We welcomed Fred Story back to the business as CEO.

New collection of house types launched

2019

New collection of house types launched

Focusing on open plan living and spacious family areas, we introduced a new collection of house types that will be used for all new developments and phases from 2019 onwards.

14 new show homes open to the public

2020

14 new show homes open to the public

We launched 14 new beautiful show homes, from the new collection of house types, to the public. These showcase our open plan layouts, modern kitchens and spacious gardens.

Colin Wood promoted to CEO

2021

Colin Wood promoted to CEO

After working as a Regional Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, we appointed Colin Wood as CEO, with Fred Story remaining as Chairman of the business.

Five-star customer satisfaction rating

2021

Five-star customer satisfaction rating

We were awarded a five-star customer satisfaction rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF). This rating was achieved from the National House Building Council (NHBC) surveys completed by our customers, confirming that nine in 10 customers would recommend Story Homes to a friend.

Gold rating for customer service

2021

Gold rating for customer service

We received a ‘Gold’ rating from In-house, the customer satisfaction research body for the residential property sector, with more than 94% of customers surveyed saying that they would recommend Story Homes.

Five-star customer satisfaction rating

2022

Five-star customer satisfaction rating

We were awarded a five-star customer satisfaction rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and the National House Building Council (NHBC), confirming that nine in 10 customers would recommend Story Homes to a friend.

Gold and outstanding rating for customer service

2022

Gold and outstanding rating for customer service

We received both a ‘Gold’ and ‘Outstanding’ rating from In-house, the customer satisfaction research body for the residential property sector, with 97% of customers surveyed saying that they would recommend Story Homes.

35th anniversary

2022

35th anniversary

Story Homes and sister business Story Contracting celebrated their 35th anniversary

Story Homes wins four property awards

2022

Story Homes wins four property awards

As well as winning ‘Best Residential Development’ in County Durham for The Willows (Darlington), our website was not only awarded the accolade of ‘Best Developer Website’ in the UK, but also across the whole of Europe and internationally.

Five-star customer satisfaction rating

2023

Five-star customer satisfaction rating

We were awarded a five-star customer satisfaction rating from the Home Builders Federation (HBF) and the National House Building Council (NHBC), confirming that nine in 10 customers would recommend Story Homes to a friend.

Gold rating for customer service

2023

Gold rating for customer service

We received a ‘Gold’ rating from In-house, the customer satisfaction research body for the residential property sector, with 94% of customers surveyed saying that they would recommend Story Homes.