| Successor | Alexander Dennis |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1913 |
| Founder(s) | Walter Alexander |
| Headquarters | Falkirk |
| Products | Bus builders and bus services. |
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders was a Scottish bus coachbuilder and operater based in Falkirk.
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Walter Alexander, notice a lack expasion by the Falkirk and District Tramways Company's especially in to Grangemouth which never hdd a tram line. In 1913 Alexander's Motor Service was created to provide the service to Grangemouth before expanding. [1]
In 1924 Walter senior was so confident about the future of the "omnibus" he decided to set up his own company not just to run them - but build them as well.[2] In 1928, several of the major British railway companies bought into the Scottish Motor Traction Company Limited (SMT). Walter Alexander decided to sell his bodybuilding business to the SMT group in 1929, and through this action, received access to a vast supply of resources and services.
In 1945 the newly elected Labour Government brought about nationalisation of bus services which resulted in W. Alexander & Sons Limited becoming Walter Alexander & Co (Coachbuilders) Limited by 1948.
Between 1948 - 1961 its bus operation were operated a single intraday, before being split into 3 companies: Fife Scottish, Midland Scottish and Northern Scottish.
Coachbuilder's part of the 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, [3] while within 6 years started selling its first buses to the Far East.
The ownership of the company had been changed several times afterwards: In 1990 the family sold the company to Spotlaunch plc but within two years a management buyout and became a standalone company until 1995 when it was bought by the Mayflower Corporation plc. In 2001, it was incorporated into TransBus International. It is now part of Alexander Dennis.[4]
Walter Alexander built many different types of bodywork over 50 years, with the most famous being the Y-Type.