Alexander Dennis

Alexander Dennis[1] is a Scottish bus building company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom, Alexander Dennis has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.

This article is about the Scottish bus manufacturer. For the English football player, see Dennis Alexander.
Not to be confused with Denis Alexander or Denis Alexander, 6th Earl of Caledon.

Alexander Dennis
Subsidiary
IndustryAutomotive
Founded2004
HeadquartersLarbert, Scotland, UK
Key people
Colin Robertson (CEO)
ProductsBuses, fire engines
Revenue £541 million (2013)
Number of employees
2,300 (2013)
ParentNFI Group
SubsidiariesPlaxton
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders
Duple Metsec
Websitewww.alexander-dennis.com

In early 2016, Alexander Dennis had a 44% market share in the United Kingdom.[2] Alexander Dennis was acquired by Canadian bus manufacturer and former joint venture partner NFI Group in May 2019.[3]

Mayflower collapse
Arriva North West Enviro400 in Liverpool in March 2013
The Alexander Dennis chassis factory in Guildford
Western Greyhound Alexander ALX400 bodied Trident 2 in Truro in June 2014
Arriva North West Plaxton President bodied Dennis Trident 2 in July 2010
Citybus Enviro500 MMC 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

Alexander Dennis was incorporated in May 2004 to buy and hold on behalf of a consortium, including David Murray and —in a private capacity— Brian Souter and Ann Gloag of Stagecoach Group, a major portion of the collapsed Mayflower Corporation.[4]

Mayflower had bought Scottish bus-makers, Walter Alexander, in August 1995[5] and English bus-makers, Dennis Group, in October 1998.[6] To reduce overheads Mayflower had joined Henlys Group in a joint venture rolling Alexander, Dennis and Henlys' Plaxton into one corporate unit with many factories all under the name TransBus International. The venture was not successful and Mayflower collapsed in March 2004. At that time Henlys' Plaxton was taken by its own management and operated under the ownership of Plaxton Holdings. Three years later, in May 2007, Plaxton Holdings was bought by Alexander Dennis.[7]

Plants bought

The former Alexander Belfast plant was not included in the deal with Mayflower and closed but Alexander Dennis ultimately inherited a number of plants: the former Alexander factories in Falkirk, Scotland; the Dennis factory in Guildford and later the former Plaxton factories in Anston and Scarborough. The former Northern Counties factory in Wigan completed outstanding orders for its President body and closed in January 2005.

Products bought with plants

Dennis Group had 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. They 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. Plaxton made 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.

Alexander Dennis secured a number of major orders from UK operators. The company 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. Beginning in 2008 ElDorado National began to assembly Enviro500 for US market and beginning in 2015 Alexander Dennis established an assembly plant in Vaughan, Ontario for orders to Metrolinx.

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

Plaxton and Custom purchases

In May 2007, Alexander Dennis purchased Plaxton, thus reuniting the two former TransBus businesses.[8]

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 will handle production and marketing, and Alexander Dennis will handle the engineering and testing.[9][10]

On 7 June 2012, Alexander Dennis acquired Australian bodybuilder Custom Coaches.[11] However, in May 2014, Custom Coaches was placed into administration.[12] In August 2014, Custom Coaches was sold to its former management.[13][14][15]

Sale to NFI Group

On 28 May 2019, it was announced that Alexander Dennis had been sold to NFI Group, in a deal worth £320 million. Souter Investments will retain an equity interest in NFI and ADL having been issued shares in NFI Group as part of the transaction. The two companies were previously engaged in a joint venture.[16]

Products

Current

Complete diesel buses

Previous

Bus bodies
  • ALX200 (2001, originally made by Alexander, replaced by Enviro200/Enviro200 Dart)
  • 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)
  • ALX500 (2001-2002, originally Alexander, replaced by Enviro500)
  • DM5000 (2001-2002, originally Duple Metsec, replaced by Enviro500)

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 rides high on international sales and targets £1billion turnover Bus & Coach Professional 16 January 2014
  3. "Alexander Dennis sold to Canadian firm". BBC. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
  4. Mayflower chiefs 'may be liable for pension hole'. The Times, Saturday, 22 May 2004; pg. 54; Issue 68082
  5. Mayflower acquisition cash call. The Times, Friday, 7 June 1996; pg. 30; Issue 65600
  6. Dennis Group held steady. The Times, Wednesday, 21 October 1998; pg. 28; Issue 66338
  7. Alexander Dennis buys Plaxton Herald Scotland 15 May 2007
  8. Plaxton bought by ADL Archived 4 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 14 May 2007
  9. New Flyer in Bus Joint Venture Diesel Progress 10 May 2012
  10. ADL aims for North American growth Archived 4 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine Bus & Coach Professional 11 May 2012
  11. Bus firm Alexander Dennis in major Australian deal BBC News 7 June 2012
  12. Custom Coaches at Royal Park has been placed in administration with 100 jobs at risk Adelaide Advertiser 30 May 2014
  13. Custom Coaches sold - 120 jobs retained Archived 6 October 2014 at the Wayback Machine Deloitte 18 August 2014
  14. Burgess buys back Custom Coaches Australasian Bus & Coach 18 August 2014
  15. Consortium Announces Purchase of Custom Coaches from Administration Custom Coaches 19 August 2014
  16. Daily Business Group 28 May 2019
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