Training & Development Team

Tanya Moxon

Head of Training and Development

Tanya joined Story Contracting in 2015 as Learning and Development Manager. Prior to joining the company, Tanya was Director of her own business which specialised in Leadership Coaching and Management Development.

As Head of Training and Development, Tanya’s role focuses on ensuring that the training provision meets the needs of the strategic vision for the business as a whole, whilst also delivering leadership coaching and other business-wide initiatives.

“My favourite thing about working in the Training and Development team is seeing people beginning to believe in themselves and have those ‘light bulb’ moments where everything seems to slot into place.”

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

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.”

Craig Hamilton

Technical Training Manager

Craig joined Story Contracting in 2017 as a Learning and Development Trainer after working at The Nelson Thomlinson School for 13 years as a French Teacher and Head of Year. He studied French at Newcastle University and then completed his PGCE at Saint Martin’s College.

As a Technical Training Manager, Craig’s role is extremely varied – his main responsibilities include delivering Skills Toolbox courses, leading and co-ordinating the Story Mentoring Scheme, working on Apprentice and Graduate schemes and leading STEM activities in schools.

“I really enjoy the fact that I have the opportunity to work with all the Divisions within the business as part of my role.”

John Burns

Lead Trainer

John is responsible for upskilling Plant Operators to the standards required to operate road rail equipment on the rail infrastructure. An essential element of John’s role is to ensure that Operators leave our training facility qualified and competent to work with different types of On Track Plant and attachments. Prior to joining Story Contracting John worked for WCF serving his time as an Agricultural Engineer then working for his family firm as a Welder/Fabricator. John is looking forward to spending more years in the Training department bringing on new Operators and completing his Trainer Assessor levels 3 and 4.

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.”

Dave Myers

Trainer Assessor

Davy started his rail career in 2000 as a part-time ‘weekend warrior’ for Point On Trackwork. When Story Contracting bought the company, Davy began working for Story full time, achieving a number of safety tickets.

In 2003 Davy became an Assessor for the company and a year later, took on the additional role of Trainer. He also mentors Trainers and Assessors that are new to the business.

“My job allows me to meet lots of interesting people – not only Story colleagues, but also external trainees. I’ve done this job for a long time and there’s great satisfaction in being recognised and respected within the industry.”

Alison Heap

Training Administrator

Alison was appointed as Training Administrator in 2015 after working for the company for over a year in a temporary role. Prior to joining Story Contracting, Alison worked for the Cumbria Education Authority for 14 years, starting as a School Administrator then progressing to management level.

Alison’s responsibilities are to monitor, organise and prepare all training activities within the business. An essential element of her role is the administration of the training costs re-allocation, monitoring all staff safety critical competences, medical administration and data associated with training to work in the rail environment.

“I really enjoy my role because I’m continuously learning something new every day – for example, I’m currently building my knowledge of Safety Critical competences.”