Walter Alexander Coachbuilders - History

History

In 1913 Walter Alexander founded Alexander's Motor Service to expand upon the Falkirk and District Tramways Company's route into previously unserved Grangemouth.

In 1924, believing in the future of the "omnibus", Alexander decided to form a company to run and manufacture them. 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 operations were operated as a single entity, before being split into 3 companies: Fife Scottish, Midland Scottish and Northern Scottish.

The coachbuilding side 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, and within 6 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 diesel multiple unit trains. 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.