Training & Development Team

John Burns

Training Centre Manager

John joined Story Contracting in 2006 as a Plant Operator – a role which involved operating a number of pieces of machinery, such as excavators, dumpers, telehandlers, road rail excavator cranes and MEWPs, amongst others. Prior to joining the business, John also held roles at Network Rail and Nexus.

To further progress his career at Story Contracting and using his knowledge and experience within the rail industry, John completed his Trainer/Assessor Level 4 Learning & Development qualification and is now Training Centre Manager.

“My favourite thing about my job is I enjoy seeing the development of an Operator who has no RRV experience, to being a competent machine operator working with the machines on the rail infrastructure.”

Barry Blackwood

Lead Training Co-ordinator

Barry joined Story Contracting in 2016. Prior to this he worked for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) for 11 years and he has also worked as a Quantity Surveyor for Kier Construction.

Barry’s role involves managing a team of people who look after co-ordinating technical training for our 700 employees. This includes; booking and recording training, claiming grants on behalf of the company, involvement with working groups on the implementation of new Story systems and assisting with the management of apprentices.

“I really enjoy the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when things go well, and you can go home at the end of the working day in the knowledge that you have helped someone else achieve their goals.”

Dougie Aitken

Plant Performance Manager

Dougie Aitken was appointed as Plant Performance Manager in 2018 after working for the company for 18 years. Dougie is responsible for ensuring all Plant Operators are performing duties to an agreed Story standard across our 3 regional depots in Carlisle, Leeds and Edinburgh.

An essential element of Dougie’s role is to mentor Story’s yearly cohorts of trainee and apprentice Plant Operators to ensure they progress along their development plans and receive any required training.

Prior to joining Story, Dougie worked as a deep sea fisherman from leaving school at 15 up until 1996. Dougie is also a qualified Trainer Assessor and has completed his Level 4 Diploma in Learning & Development.

“One of my favourite things is seeing our apprentices develop through from the day they join us, working together as a team and how they bond together in such a short time. I get a great feeling of pride when they become fully qualified operators and all of their hard work has paid off.”

Kevin Bell

Lead Trainer Assessor

Kevin joined Story Contracting in 2017. Prior to this, he worked for possession management company TES2000 for five years.

His day-to-day role involves arranging and completing safety critical assessments, and Kevin himself is currently training to be a Safety Critical Trainer. He splits his time between working in the office and getting out and about on site.

“I really enjoy the variety of my role as a Trainer/Assessor – the work is very interesting as I’m completing different tasks and working with different members of the team every day. It’s really satisfying to see colleagues grow and progress their careers thanks to the training provided to them.”