THE woman appointed head of sales at Carlisle construction company Story Homes wants to spread the message about the opportunities available at the firm.

Hayley Blair, 33, joined the business, which is based at Kingmoor Business Park, straight from university 12 years ago.

She has risen through the ranks there and is now responsible for sales in Cumbria and south west Scotland in her new role, which puts her one notch below the board of directors.

Her experience of the company goes beyond employment as Miss Blair also lives in a property built by the company, in Dalston.

Miss Blair - who is from Carlisle and went to school in Morton - said: "I can genuinely say that is a really good place to work, there has not been a one day in my career when I have not wanted to come to work."

While she was studying at university she worked for Story Contracting - a separate firm, also owned by Fred Story - carrying out administrative task in the accounts department during her summer breaks.

After she graduated from Northumbria University with a degree in business management, she opted to head back to Cumbria to take up a position as a sales executive with Story Homes.

After several years in this role, which saw her sell homes at developments around the county she was promoted to part-exchange manager before landing her current position.

"The most rewarding thing is delivering somebody their dream home. You go round with someone when it is just a bit of earth and say 'you see this here'," she said

"You do your best to make what can be a difficult experience the best it can be."

She moved into her her own Story home with her six-year-old son Jake last year.

"I realised what I was looking for was on my doorstep - I knew the process inside out and we felt secure from day one," she said.

Miss Blair added: "There are lots of opportunities with Story Homes, I have said to one of my younger team members that there were fantastic opportunities for them here. We do like to grow our own."