IT'S the stuff of dreams. The story of how one man turned £500 into a fortune.

WA Developments is well-known in the Eden valley. Based in Appleby and now directly employing more than 300 staff including around 60 in Appleby - there are few people who don't know the company's name.

And rightly so. The company was started by its founder Andrew Tinkler in 1986 with just £500. Last year it turned over £21 million.

It is a classic tale of being in the right place at the right time and, in Mr Tinkler's case, with the right equipment.

Andrew Tinkler started business as a builder. That was in 1986. He did well and the business grew. By 1992 the business had expanded from house building in to civil engineering and in 1993 the company was christened WA Developments.

Things might well have continued to progress in the same way but for a rain storm in 1996. A landslide blocked the Settle to Carlisle railway line, near Appleby, and emergency repairs were required to clear the track and make good the collapsed embankment.

Mr Tinkler was the nearest contractor with the right equipment and he got the railway back on track in record time. That was his first foray in to contract work on the railways but he saw an opportunity and grabbed it. His philosophy is simple: "In an ever-changing industrial climate we must actively pursue work in new areas."

In 1998 the company purchased its first road/rail vehicle, by 1999 had established itself as a subcontractor of first choice for several of the rail industry's main contractors and in 2003 was awarded the right to deal directly with Network Rail as a main contractor.

The expansion has catapulted WA Developments into the heady heights of Britain's 100 fastest-growing companies. Between 1999 and 2002 the company recorded annual sales growth of 88.69 per cent.

But Mr Tinkler is not complacent: "We have to continue to improve our performance and professionalism within the industry so that the hard work and ground gained over the past years is not wasted."

Mr Tinkler clearly believes that while luck and being in the right place for the job may have got WA Developments to where it is today, it is his people who will keep it there. He says it is thanks to the efforts of his employees that the security of the business has never been stronger.

That commitment to his staff is evident in the emphasis placed on health and safety and training at WA Developments. The company has a purpose-built £500,000 training centre at Appleby, a specially constructed stretch of railway line for training staff before they ever go near the real thing and a string of accreditations including Investors in People in 2002 and Track Safety Training Provider of the Year in 2001 & 2003.

Last year the company scooped two local awards for excellence in Cumbria: Growth Business of the Year and the Developing Excellence through People Award.

In November the company's International arm, WA Developments International, raised its profile considerably by buying the Eddie Stobart Group, another icon of Cumbrian enterprise; William Stobart is a long-standing director of WA Developments.

It's quite a story. But progress never stops and the company will soon bid farewell to the town where it all started. With no available space to expand in Appleby, WA Developments will begin moving to Penrith later this year. A new green field site is being developed and will give the company premises of some 11 acres, compared to the six-and-a-half acre split site at Appleby. No jobs will be lost in the move and the company will continue to recruit.

However, the firm's purpose-built £500,000 training centre will remain in Appleby and continue to see up to 30 people passing through each day. Mr Tinkler says: "The move will make a great deal of difference, having everyone under the same roof and bringing us closer to the M6."

It makes sense. With rail contracts all over the north of England, Penrith offers better communications but when it's all done, Tinkler will surely spare more than a passing thought for his old site alongside the Settle to Carlisle railway where it all began.