View source for Walter Alexander Coachbuilders

{{Short description|Scottish company}}
{{Other uses|Walter Alexander (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox company
|name             = Walter Alexander 
|logo             = Walter Alexander Coachbuilders logo.jpg
|caption          = 
|type             = 
|traded_as        = 
|fate             = Merged into TransBus International<br>(now [[Alexander Dennis]])
|predecessor      = 
|successor        = TransBus International
|foundation       = [[1913]]
|founder          = Walter Alexander 
|defunct          = 31 December 2000
|location_city    = 
|location_country = 
|location         = [[Falkirk]], formerly [[Stirling]]
|locations        = 
|area_served      = 
|key_people       = 
|industry         = 
|products         = Bus and coach bodywork 
|revenue          = 
|operating_income = 
|net_income       = 
|market capitalisation = 
|assets           = 
|equity           = 
|owner            = 
|num_employees    = 
|parent           = 
|divisions        = 
|subsid           = 
|homepage         = 
|footnotes        = 
}}
'''Walter Alexander Coachbuilders'''<ref name=SC026103>[http://data.companieshouse.gov.uk/doc/company/SC026103 Companies House extract company no SC026103] Walter Alexander (Falkirk) Limited formerly Walter Alexander & Company (Coachbuilders) Limited</ref> was a Scottish builder of bus and coach bodywork based in [[Falkirk]].  The company was formed in 1947 to continue the coachbuilding activities of [[W. Alexander & Sons]] when their bus service operation was [[nationalisation|nationalised]].  After several mergers and changes of ownership it now forms part of [[Alexander Dennis]].

==History==
In 1913, Walter Alexander founded Alexander's Motor Service to expand upon the Falkirk & District Tramways Company's route into previously unserved [[Grangemouth]].<ref name="Falkirk Wheel bio">{{cite web|title=Walter Alexander|url=http://www.falkirk-wheel.com/features/people-of-the-falkirk-area/48-walter-alexander|work=The Falkirk Wheel|access-date=9 February 2012}}</ref>

In 1924, believing in the future of the omnibus, Alexander established [[W. Alexander & Sons]] Limited, to run them and to manufacture bodywork for its own fleet and for sale to other operators.<ref name="PSVCircle1995">P.S.V. Circle (1995), p. 5.</ref><ref name="Falkirk Wheel bio" />  In 1928, several of the major British railway companies bought into the [[Scottish Motor Traction|Scottish Motor Traction Company]] (SMT). Walter Alexander decided to sell his business to the SMT group in 1929, and through this action, received access to a vast supply of resources and services.  Alexander became an in-house supplier of bodywork for the whole of the SMT group, and only a few bodies were built for other customers during this period.<ref name="PSVCircle1995"/>

Coachbuilding work had initially taken place at the company's main bus garage and works in Brown Street, [[Camelon]], but it outgrew this facility and in 1930 a bus garage in Drip Road, Stirling was converted into a dedicated coachbuilding factory,<ref name="PSVCircle1995"/>  although a few bodies for Alexander's own fleet did continue to be built at Brown Street in the 1930s and '40s.

In 1947, in anticipation of the newly elected Labour Government's [[nationalisation]] of the SMT group's bus services, a new company, Walter Alexander & Company (Coachbuilders) Limited<ref name=SC026103/> was formed in order to keep the coachbuilding business in private hands.<ref>P.S.V. Circle (1995), p. 4.</ref>  Although Alexander remained the largest supplier of bodywork to what became the [[Scottish Bus Group]], the independent company also began to broaden its customer base.  The company outgrew the Drip Road premises and in 1958 it relocated to a purpose-built factory at Glasgow Road, Camelon.

The coachbuilding business continued to flourish and expansion was rapid. In 1969, the company bought out Potters, a bodybuilder in [[Northern Ireland]], and set up a subsidiary Walter Alexander & Co (Belfast) Limited,<ref name="Falkirk Wheel bio" /><ref>[http://data.companieshouse.gov.uk/doc/company/NI005105 Companies House extract company no NI005105] Walter Alexander (Belfast) Limited formerly Walter Alexander & Co (Belfast) Limited</ref> and within six years started selling buses to the Far East. In 1981 the company was awarded the [[The Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade (Export) (1981)|Queen's Award for Export]].<ref name="Times60907">{{Cite newspaper The Times |title= Queen's Awards list |department=Official Appointments and Notices |date=21 April 1981 |page=17 |issue=60907 |column=E}}</ref> By 1983, the company was the largest supplier of double-deck bus bodies in the world,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=v8FAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=66UMAAAAIBAJ&pg=3866,3258071&dq=walter-alexander+bus&hl=en |last=Bateman |first=Derek |title=Bus firm wins £6m Far East contract |work=[[Glasgow Evening Times]] |date=17 August 1983}}</ref> and a year later it won a [[British Rail]] contract to construct 25 [[British Rail Class 143|Class 143 carriages]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2CQ-AAAAIBAJ&sjid=mEoMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6305,78671&dq=walter-alexander+bus&hl=en |title=Rail work will help save jobs says bus boss |work=Glasgow Evening Times |date=1 June 1984}}</ref> In 1987, Walter Alexander became a publicly listed company, having previously been a private firm run by the Alexander family.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/walter-alexander-sees-dramatic-turnround-as-bus-orders-boom-1.787625 |title=Walter Alexander sees dramatic turnround as bus orders boom  |work=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |date=27 October 1992}}</ref>

The ownership of the company subsequently changed several times: In 1990 the family sold the company to Spotlaunch plc but within two years a management buyout occurred and it became a standalone company until 1995, when it was bought by the Mayflower Corporation plc.<ref>[http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/18th-january-1990/21/wa-sale-is-imminent WA sale is imminent] ''Commercial Motor'' 18 January 1990</ref><ref>[http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/25th-january-1990/21/wa-split-for-business WA split for business] ''Commercial Motor'' 25 January 1990</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Mayflower Buys U.K. Bus Builder|journal=Fleet Owner|year=1995|volume=90|pages=265|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VEpUAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Walter+Alexander%22+bus|access-date=7 February 2012|publisher=[[Primedia]]|quote=...the leading maker of bus bodies in the United Kingdom has been purchased for $44.5-million by the Mayflower Corp....}}</ref>  In 2001, it was incorporated into TransBus International. It is now part of [[Alexander Dennis]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110710221743/http://www.falkirk-wheel.com/features/people-of-the-falkirk-area/48-walter-alexander Walter Alexander] Falkirk Wheel</ref>

==Products==
Walter Alexander built many different types of bodywork over 50 years, with the most famous being the Y-Type single decker.

===Railcars===
*[[British Rail Class 143]] - on [[underframe]]s by [[Andrew Barclay & Sons Co.|Andrew Barclay]]
*[[British Rail Class 144]] - on underframes by [[British Rail Engineering Limited]]
<gallery>
File:143610_in_July_1991.jpg|[[Regional Railways]] [[British Rail Class 143|Class 143]]
File:Leeds_railway_station_MMB_48_144006.jpg|[[Northern Rail]] [[British Rail Class 144|Class 144]]
</gallery>

===Double-deck buses===
* A type and J type - double-deck body (for [[Leyland Atlantean]]/[[Daimler Fleetline]]) to 1972
* C type -lowheight double-deck body for [[Albion Lowlander]] 1961–65.
* D type, K type and AD type (A for alloy) - lowheight double-deck body (mainly on Fleetline chassis)
* L type and AL type - double-deck body (for Atlantean/Fleetline/[[Bristol VR]]) from 1972
* AV type - double-deck body for [[Volvo Ailsa B55]]
* R type - including RH, RL, RV, RX, RLC, RVC, RHS and Royale - post 1981 double deck body
* ALX series - including [[Alexander ALX400|ALX400]] & [[Alexander ALX500|ALX500]] - low-floor bodies
* CB type - for [[China Motor Bus]]
* KB type - for [[Kowloon Motor Bus]]
* LB type - for [[New Lantao Bus]]
* MB type - for Manila Bus
* SB type - for [[Singapore Bus Service]]

<gallery>
File:West Midlands PTE bus 4775 (JOV 775P) 1976 Volvo Ailsa B55 Alexander AV, Birmingham, 1982.jpg|[[West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive|West Midlands PTE]] AV type bodied [[Volvo Ailsa B55]], pictured in Birmingham in 1982
File:Western Scottish SBG preserved bus Leyland Fleetline Alexander AD Type in Paisley, Renfrewshire 22 September 2006.jpg|Preserved [[Western Scottish]] AD type bodied [[Daimler Fleetline]]
File:Trans-Clyde Volvo Ailsa.jpg|[[Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive|Strathclyde PTE]] RV type bodied Volvo Ailsa, pictured in Glasgow in 1984 
File:DF9565.jpg|[[Kowloon Motor Bus]] RH type bodied [[Mercedes-Benz O305]]
File:CtbLeyland.jpg|[[Citybus (Hong Kong)|Citybus]] RH type bodied [[Leyland Olympian]] 
</gallery>

===Single-deck buses and coaches===
* [[Alexander Y Type|Y type]] - including AY and AYS types (A for alloy, S for bus specification)
* W type
* M type - Motorway coach for [[Scottish Bus Group]] Anglo-Scottish services
* T type - including AT, TS, TC, TE (A for alloy, S for stage, C for coach, E for express)
* P type
* [[Alexander PS type|PS type]] - development of P type, popular with [[Stagecoach Group|Stagecoach]] and [[SBS Transit]]
* [[Alexander Strider|Strider]] - for full-size rear-engined chassis
* AM type
** Sprint - minibus body
** [[Alexander Dash|Dash]] - midibus body (for [[Dennis Dart]]/[[Volvo B6]])
* ALX series
** [[Alexander ALX100|ALX100]] - minibus
** [[Alexander ALX200|ALX200]] - small low-floor single-deck
** [[Alexander ALX300|ALX300]] - full-size low-floor single-deck

<gallery>
File:LeylandLeopardAlexanderYTypeMFR306P.jpg|Preserved [[Alexander Y type|Y type]] (AYS) bodied [[Leyland Leopard]] on display in Blackpool in 2001
File:Stagecoach_Cumbria_%26_North_Lancashire_21007_M393VWX_(8852909977).jpg|[[Stagecoach Cumbria & North Lancashire]] [[Alexander Strider|Strider]] bodied [[Volvo B10B]]
File:Leven Valley Coaches minibus Mercedes Benz 709D Alexander Sprint P776 BJU Middlesbrough bus station 5 May 2009.JPG|Leven Valley Coaches Sprint bodied [[Mercedes-Benz T2|Mercedes-Benz 709D]]
File:Big_Lemon_K779_DAO.jpg|[[The Big Lemon]] [[Alexander PS type|PS type]] bodied [[Volvo B10M]]
File:Timeline_bus_(N210_WBA),_Manchester.jpg|Timeline [[Alexander Dash|Dash]] bodied [[Volvo B6]]
</gallery>

===Alexander (Belfast) buses===
* X type (unofficial title) - for [[Leyland Leopard]] and [[Bristol RE]]
* N type - for [[Leyland Tiger]], [[Leyland Lynx|Lynx]], and [[Leyland B21|B21]]
* Q type - for Leyland Tiger and [[Volvo B10M]]
* D type - Alexander (Belfast) version of Alexander RH for [[Leyland Olympian]] and [[Volvo Olympian]]
* [[Alexander Ultra|Ultra]] - Alexander (Belfast) version of Swedish Säffle body for the [[Volvo B10L]]
<gallery>
File:Ensignbus_bus_163_(P563_SWC)_ex-Dublin_Bus_RV341_(97_D_341)_1997_Volvo_Olympian_Alexander_(Belfast),_St_Paul%27s_Cathedral,_7_October_2010.jpg|[[Ensignbus]] D type bodied [[Volvo Olympian]]
File:Metro_(Belfast)_bus_2743_(LAZ_2743)_1997_Volvo_B10L_Alexander_(Belfast)_Ultra,_2_June_2011.jpg|[[Metro (Belfast)|Metro]] [[Alexander Ultra|Ultra]] bodied [[Volvo B10L]]
</gallery>

==Sources==
*P.S.V. Circle (1995), ''W. Alexander & Sons Ltd; Part One 1914 to 1931 (fleet history PM14)'', P.S.V. Circle, Harrow.

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==

{{Walter Alexander vehicle bodies}}
{{Bus manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom}}{{Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom}}{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Walter}}
[[Category:Alexander Dennis]]
[[Category:Coachbuilders of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1913]]
[[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1913]]
[[Category:Companies based in Falkirk (council area)]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies of Scotland]]
[[Category:1913 establishments in Scotland]]
[[Category:Motor vehicle manufacturers of Scotland]]