Walter Alexander Coachbuilders
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| Fate | Merged into TransBus International (now Alexander Dennis) |
|---|---|
| Successor | Alexander Dennis |
| Founded | 1913 |
| Founder | Walter Alexander |
| Defunct | 31 December 2000 |
| Headquarters | Falkirk |
| Products | Bus and coach bodywork |
Walter Alexander Coachbuilders 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 nationalised. After several mergers and changes of ownership it now forms part of Alexander Dennis.
In 1913, Walter Alexander founded Alexander's Motor Service to expand upon the Falkirk & District Tramways Company's route into previously unserved Grangemouth.
In 1924, believing in the future of the omnibus, Alexander established W. Alexander & Sons Limited, to run and manufacture them. In 1928, several of the major British railway companies bought into the 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.
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 was formed in order to keep the coachbuilding in private hands.
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, and within six years started selling buses to the Far East. In 1981 the company was awarded the Queen's Award for Export. By 1983, the company was the largest supplier of double-deck bus bodies in the world, and a year later it won a British Rail contract to construct 25 Class 143 carriages. In 1987, Walter Alexander became a publicly listed company, having previously been a private firm run by the Alexander family.
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. In 2001, it was incorporated into TransBus International. It is now part of Alexander Dennis.
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