Story Homes appoints new chief executive

Housebuilder Story Homes has promoted chief operating officer Colin Wood to the role of chief executive and announced that it plans to increase output by almost 50% over the next three years.

Wood joined the Carlisle-based business as a regional managing director in 2018 and became COO the following year. He worked for Gentoo Homes for five years before moving to Story, latterly as managing director.

Story Homes founder and chairman Fred Story said Wood had played a “significant role” in ensuring the success of the business since he joined and had been “instrumental” in the introduction of new processes and redesigned house types.

“We are in a strong position and this is a result of his hard work and undoubted leadership skills,” he said.

Story’s growth plans include increasing annual output to 1,200 units by the 2024 financial year.

“We’re in a great position as a business, we have the right people in place, robust processes and house types that meet our customers’ needs and aspirations,” Wood added.

Story’s most recent accounts cover the year to 31 March 2020, when the firm sold 838 homes, down from 880 the previous year.

The firm reported turnover of £219.8m for the year, down from £230.8m in 2019. It said pre-tax profit was £5.4m in 2020 against a pre-tax loss of £1.8m the previous year.

The report added that Story had implemented a change in its accounting policy between the two years.