Alexander Dennis

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Alexander Dennis is a British bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, with a 50% market share in 2019, it has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada,[1] China, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand,[2] Singapore, South Africa and the United States.[3]

History

TransBus - the precursor of Alexander Dennis

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File:Alexander Dennis logo.svg
Previous logo of the company from 2004 to 2022

Mayflower Corporation acquired Scottish bus-makers, Walter Alexander, in August 1995[4] and English bus-makers, Dennis Group, in October 1998.[5] In 2000, Mayflower and Henlys Group merged their British bus-making operations into a 70:30 joint venture with Alexander, Dennis and Henlys' Plaxton merged to form TransBus International. The factories concerned employed 3,300 staff in seven places in England (Anston, Guildford, Scarborough and Wigan), Scotland (Falkirk) and Northern Ireland (Belfast).[6][7]

Plaxton's Scarborough operations was planned to close on 3 May 2001[8] with the loss of 700 jobs blamed on the fall in tourism after the foot and mouth epidemic broke out. Minibus production was moved to the former Walter Alexander factory at Falkirk.[9] However, the Scarborough factory did not close altogether, for 200 staff returned to work after the summer break.[10]

Mayflower was valued at £700 million in 1999. By March 2004, that stock market valuation had fallen to £22 million.[11] The following month Mayflower was placed in administration, amid accusations of four years of falsifying crucial company records as to customers' payments to HSBC, counting the same income twice.[12] One outcome was that certain members of the Dennis pension fund would receive only 40 per cent of their pensions, though others would continue to receive their full entitlement.[13] TransBus was also placed in administration.

TransBus Plaxton was sold to in a management buyout to Brian Davidson and Mike Keane with the support of a private equity group.[14][15]

File:Alexander Dennis Guildford factory.JPG
The former Alexander Dennis chassis factory in Guildford, closed in 2020

Formation of Alexander Dennis

File:Manchester bus 192.jpg
Stagecoach Manchester Enviro400 in February 2009

A group of Scottish investors, Noble Grossart, David Murray, Brian Souter and Ann Gloag, purchased the business from administrator Deloitte in May 2004.[16][17][18]

The former Alexander Belfast plant was not included in the deal and closed.[19] Alexander Dennis ultimately inherited a number of plants from TransBus: the former Alexander factories in Falkirk, Scotland; the Dennis factory in Guildford and later the former Plaxton factories in Anston and Scarborough.[20] The former Northern Counties factory in Wigan closed in January 2005.[21]

Dennis Group had produced a range of both bus and coach chassis and bodies as well as fire engines.[22] Included among its range of chassis were the Dennis Dart and Dennis Trident.[20][22] They also produced export variants for service in Hong Kong, Singapore and other locations.[20] Plaxton made coaches,[23] as well as the President double decker body (built on Trident, DAF DB250 and Volvo B7TL chassis) and the single decker Pointer body, built on the Dart chassis.[24]

In May 2007, Alexander Dennis purchased Plaxton, thus reuniting the two former TransBus businesses.[25][26]

In October 2008, Alexander Dennis signed a deal with ElDorado National to assemble the Enviro500 for the United States market.[27] In 2011, Alexander Dennis entered an agreement with Kiwi Bus Builders to assemble its products for the New Zealand market.[28][29]

In May 2012, NFI Group and Alexander Dennis announced a new joint-venture to design and manufacture medium-duty low-floor bus (or midi bus) for the North American market. New Flyer would handle production and marketing, and Alexander Dennis would handle the engineering and testing.[30][31] The joint venture was dissolved in 2017.[32] In June 2012, Alexander Dennis acquired Australian bodybuilder Custom Coaches.[33] However, in May 2014, Custom Coaches was placed into administration and later sold to a consortium headed by its former owner.[34][35]

In 2015 Alexander Dennis established an assembly plant in Vaughan, Ontario for orders to Metrolinx.[36][37] In October 2015, Alexander Dennis signed a deal with BYD to body electric buses.[38] From 2021, Alexander Dennis will build its own electric chassis.[39]

NFI Group era

File:SL 11391 R8.jpg
Stagecoach London Enviro400 MMC in London in December 2024
File:Arriva Midlands DM01-MD (AR74 ZEB).jpg
Arriva Midlands Enviro400EV battery electric bus in Leicester in November 2024

In May 2019, Alexander Dennis was sold to NFI Group, in a deal worth £320 million. Souter Investments retain an interest, taking shares in NFI Group as part of the transaction.[40] The two companies had been engaged in a joint venture from 2012 until 2017.[41][42]

In August 2020, Alexander Dennis announced plans to cut 650 jobs from its UK manufacturing sites including Falkirk, Scarborough and Guildford, citing a demand drop due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[43] Bus chassis production moved from Guildford to Falkirk.[44][45]

June 2021 saw Alexander Dennis open a base in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, which was described by local media as "boosting economic growth".[46]

In July 2021, Alexander Dennis announced plans for construction of a new staff office complex and museum in Farnborough, Hampshire named Trident House. The centre was expected to be completed in early 2022.[47] Alexander Dennis also entered a business partnership with Australian electric bus supplier Nexport to assemble electric city buses locally, with Australian manufacturing expected to begin in early 2022.[48]

In April 2022, Alexander Dennis commenced trials of an autonomous Alexander Dennis Enviro200 MMC working with Stagecoach Group,[49] as part of a two-week pilot. Two months later in June, the company formally opened its Trident House complex, while at the same time, launched a refresh of its brand identity.[50][51]

After building a batch of Enviro400FCEV buses in a pilot scheme at the site in 2022, Alexander Dennis announced it would expand its Larbert headquarters by converting on-site warehouse space to bus manufacturing facilities. Production of the second-generation Alexander Dennis Enviro400EV is planned to begin at Larbert from August 2023, taking the company's manufacturing footprint in the United Kingdom to three sites.[52]

In June 2025, however, Alexander Dennis announced production at Larbert was to be suspended, with plans also being consulted to shut down its factory in Falkirk in an effort to cut costs and 'duplicate activities'. It is planned for all UK manufacturing to be consolidated in Scarborough, risking the loss of 400 jobs at Falkirk and Larbert, representing 22% of the Alexander Dennis workforce.[53][54]

Products

Buses

Current

File:TL 553.jpg
Transports publics de la région lausannoise Enviro500 MMC Facelift in Lausanne, Switzerland, in December 2020

Complete buses

Discontinued

File:AAS7 KMB 203C 02-12-2020.jpg
Kowloon Motor Bus Enviro200 in Hong Kong in December 2020
File:RTC (Las Vegas, NV) DEUCE ADL Enviro500 Las Vegas Blvd near STRAT (51715652652).jpg
RTC Transit Enviro500 in Las Vegas in November 2021

Bus bodies

  • Pointer (2001–2007, originally made by Plaxton, replaced by Enviro200 Dart)
  • ALX300 (2001-2007, originally Alexander, replaced by Enviro300)
  • ALX400 (2001-2006, originally Alexander, replaced by Enviro400)
  • President (2001-2005, originally Plaxton, replaced by Enviro400)

Complete buses (or chassis/body only)

Bus chassis

Coach chassis

Fire engine (Chassis and crew cab)

File:DennisSabre.JPG
Hong Kong Fire Services Department Dennis Sabre fire engine

Fire engine vehicles were built by Dennis Group and sold under the Dennis Fire brand until 2007. The bodywork on a majority of the later chassis were built by a neighbouring company, John Dennis Coachbuilders Limited.

Discontinued

See also

References

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External links

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Template:Alexander Dennis Template:European bus builders Template:Automotive industry in the United Kingdom Template:Bus transport in the United Kingdom Template:Bus manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom

  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  2. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  3. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  4. ↑ Mayflower acquisition cash call The Times 7 June 1996; pg. 30; Issue 65600
  5. ↑ Dennis Group held steady The Times, 21 October 1998; pg. 28; Issue 66338
  6. ↑ Joint venture for Henlys and Mayflower The Times 2 August 2000; pg.
  7. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  9. ↑ Mayflower to lose 700 jobs The Times 4 May 2001; pg. 24; issue 67130
  10. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  11. ↑ Offers made to take helm of the foundering Mayflower The Times 15 March 2004; pg. 23; issue 68023
  12. ↑ Engineering The Times 19 April 2004; pg. 20; issue 68053
  13. ↑ Most Dennis pension holders to get only 40% The Times 21 June 2004; pg. [19]; issue 68107
  14. ↑ Managers buy Plaxton The Times 17 May 2004; pg. [19]; issue 68077
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ Mayflower chiefs 'may be liable for pension hole'. The Times, 22 May 2004; pg. 54; Issue 68082
  17. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  18. ↑ Sir Angus jumps the bus Sunday Herald 26 December 2004
  19. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  20. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  21. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  22. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  23. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  26. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  27. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  28. ↑ 120 Enviro200s on the way to New Zealand Bus & Coach Professional 11 January 2011
  29. ↑ Enviro buses roll into town Bay of Plenty Times 27 June 2011
  30. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  31. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  32. ↑ Enviro200 joint venture terminates Buses issue 748 July 2017 page 21
  33. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  34. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  35. ↑ Burgess buys back Custom Coaches Australasian Bus & Coach 18 August 2014
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ World News Buses Worldwide issue 201 April 2016 page 44
  38. ↑ Falkirk-based Alexander Dennis signs bus deal with China's BYD BBC News 22 October 2015
  39. ↑ BYD ADL partnership accelerates electrification with the design and assembly of electric bus chassis in the UK Alexander Dennis 11 January 2021
  40. ↑ Souter Investments Completes Sale of Alexander Dennis Limited to NFI Group Souter Investments 28 May 2019
  41. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  42. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  43. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  44. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  45. ↑ Enviro chassis production moves to Falkirk Buses issue 787 October 2020 page 8
  46. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  47. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  48. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  49. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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  51. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  52. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  53. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  54. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  55. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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