Our Story

Stornoway's story starts on a farm south of Launceston, Tasmania in 1976. Alan Gardner was dairy farming on Stornoway, a property owned by his family since the 1890s. 

The closure of a local milk processing factory in the mid-1970s forced Alan to pivot and seek a new livelihood. So, in 1976, Alan started Stornoway Gravel, taking advantage of the natural gravel resource on his property. As the business grew, he took on a partner, Philip Bowden, and so started a 25-year partnership that set the basis for today’s Stornoway.

Alan and Philip soon expanded into roadworks and other areas of civil construction. Over the next 20 years, they went on to build one of Tasmania’s leading civil contracting companies.

In the late 1990s, Stornoway’s business took on a new look with entry into the long-term road maintenance market. The Tasmanian government aggregated minor roadworks into broader maintenance contracts. Stornoway was part of a team that secured the State’s first long-term maintenance contract in 1998. This established a new direction for Stornoway, driving an ever-increasing focus on maintenance services as a specialisation.