Alexander Dennis

This article is about the British bus manufacturer. For English football player, see Dennis Alexander.
Private
Industry Automotive
Founded 2004
Headquarters Larbert, Scotland
Key people
 Colin Robertson (CEO)
Products Buses, fire engines
Revenue Increase £541 million (2013)
Owner Brian Souter & Ann Gloag (55%)
Noble Grossart (33%)
Number of employees
 2,300 (2013)
Subsidiaries Plaxton
Slogan innovation with style
Website www.alexander-dennis.com

Alexander Dennis[1] (formerly known as TransBus International) is a British bus building company based in Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, Alexander Dennis is one of the world’s fastest-growing bus builders, with manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, Europe, Malaysia, New Zealand and the United States.

In 2013, Alexander Dennis had a 34% market share in the United Kingdom.[2] As at April 2014, Brian Souter and Ann Gloag collectively held a 55% shareholding.[3]

History

Arriva North West Enviro400 in Liverpool in March 2013

Alexander Dennis was formed as TransBus International on 1 January 2001,[4] when Mayflower Corporation (owner of Dennis and Alexander) merged with Henlys Group (owner of Plaxton).[5]

The Alexander Dennis chassis factory in Guildford
Western Greyhound Alexander ALX400 bodied Trident 2 in Truro in June 2014

TransBus International inherited a number of factories around the United Kingdom from all three merged companies: the former Alexander factories in Falkirk, Scotland and Belfast, Northern Ireland, the former Plaxton factories in Anston and Scarborough, the former Northern Counties factory in Wigan, and the Dennis factory in Guildford.

TransBus International produced a range of both bus and coach chassis and bodies as well as fire engines. Included among its range of chassis were the Dennis Dart, one of the all-time best-selling buses in the UK, and the Dennis Trident. TransBus also produced export variants for service in Hong Kong, New York City and other locations. The Dennis Trident is the most common bus model in service in London.

Brighton & Hove Plaxton President bodied Trident 2 in December 2010

Since the creation of TransBus merged both Plaxton and Alexander, the TransBus range included Plaxton coaches as well as two double-decker bodies (the Plaxton President and the Alexander ALX400), the Alexander ALX300 citybus and the Pointer body built in quantity on the aforementioned Dennis Dart chassis, which replaced the Alexander ALX200 body built previously on a Dart chassis.

On 31 March 2004, TransBus International was put into administration.[6] On 17 May 2004, the Plaxton coach business was sold in a management buyout and resumed trading as Plaxton.[7] TransBus had been in the process of eradicating the traditional company names from the vehicles. On 21 May 2004, the remaining part of TransBus (Alexander and Dennis) was bought by a consortium of merchant bank Noble Grossart and businessmen David Murray and Brian Souter.[8] The new company was named Alexander Dennis. The sale did not include the former Alexander Belfast plant, which closed .

On 26 January 2005, Alexander Dennis' Wigan plant closed, after completing outstanding orders of its President body.

Alexander Dennis secured a number of major orders from UK operators. The company has also continued to find success in its predecessors' traditional markets of Hong Kong and the Republic of Ireland, with the Enviro500 securing orders in both markets, and the ALX400 double-deck body remaining the Dublin Bus standard vehicle until production ended in 2006.

Alexander Dennis is also building its share of the North American market, securing £25m worth of orders in 2005 for its Enviro500 model from customers in Victoria, British Columbia, New York City (open top models), San Francisco and Las Vegas.

In 2006 the company unveiled two new models, the Enviro400 double-decker and Enviro200 Dart midibus.

In May 2007, Alexander Dennis purchased Plaxton, thus reuniting the two former TransBus businesses.[9]

In May 2012, New Flyer Industries 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 will handle production and marketing, and Alexander Dennis will handle the engineering and testing.[10][11]

On 7 June 2012, Alexander Dennis acquired Australian bodybuilder Custom Coaches.[12] However, in May 2014, Custom Coaches was placed into administration.[13] In August 2014, Custom Coaches was sold to its former management.[14][15][16]

Products

Current

Citybus Enviro500 in Hong Kong in January 2014
First Hampshire & Dorset Enviro 200 in April 2009
Arriva North West Plaxton Pointer 1 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in October 2009
Stagecoach in Hampshire Plaxton Pointer 2 bodied Dennis Dart SLF in Woking in May 2009
Hong Kong Fire Services Department Dennis Sabre fire engine

Complete diesel buses

Complete hybrid electric buses

Previous

Bus bodies

Bus chassis

Complete buses (or chassis/body only)

Coach chassis

Fire appliance (Chassis and crew cab)

TransBus/Alexander Dennis built fire-fighting vehicles until 2007. The bodywork on a majority of the chassis are built by a neighbouring company, John Dennis Coachbuilders Limited.

References

  1. ↑ Companies House extract company no SC268016 Alexander Dennis Limited
  2. ↑ ADL, Volvo keep lead but lose share Bus & Coach Professional 16 January 2014
  3. ↑ Annual Report Year Ended 30 April 2014 Stagecoach Group
  4. ↑ Companies House extract company no 4018722 Transbus International Limited
  5. ↑ Mayflower and Henlys burst past rivalry to merge UK bus building The Independent 2 August 2000
  6. ↑ Update: re Administration Mayflower Corporation 22 April 2004
  7. ↑ MBO heralds TransBus deal by end of this week The Scotsman 17 May 2004
  8. ↑ Murray and Souter join forces to buy TransBus The Scotsman 21 May 2004
  9. ↑ Plaxton bought by ADL Bus & Coach Professional 14 May 2007
  10. ↑ New Flyer in Bus Joint Venture Diesel Progress 10 May 2012
  11. ↑ ADL aims for North American growth Bus & Coach Professional 11 May 2012
  12. ↑ Bus firm Alexander Dennis in major Australian deal BBC News 7 June 2012
  13. ↑ Custom Coaches at Royal Park has been placed in administration with 100 jobs at risk Adelaide Advertiser 30 May 2014
  14. ↑ Custom Coaches sold - 120 jobs retained Deloitte 18 August 2014
  15. ↑ Burgess buys back Custom Coaches Australasian Bus & Coach 18 August 2014
  16. ↑ Consortium Announces Purchase of Custom Coaches from Administration Custom Coaches 19 August 2014

External links

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