 Preserved Lancashire United Transport Northern Counties bodied Daimler Fleetline | |
| Founded | 1919 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Henry Lewis |
| Defunct | 2005 |
| Successor | Alexander Dennis |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Bus and coach bodywork |
The Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company [1] was an English builder of bus and coach bodywork based in Wigan.
Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company was founded in Wigan in 1919 by Henry Lewis. The Lewis family remained owners of the company until it was bought out over seventy years later. As was common at the time, early products were bodywork and repairs for private automobiles together with a tyre fitting service. By the early 1920s, the private automobile work had ceased and the manufacture of bodywork for service buses commenced. Bodywork was for both single and double deck vehicles. Very few coaches were produced.
During World War II, Northern Counties was authorised by the government to produce bus bodies to a utility specification, mainly using steel-framed construction.
Northern Counties established a loyal client base and reputation for quality construction in the post-war years. Notable clients included local operators SHMD Board, Manchester Corporation and Lancashire United Transport. Further afield, Barton Transport and Southdown Motor Services were among a number of regular customers.
In 1967, fellow bodybuilder Massey Brothers, located in nearby Pemberton, was acquired and became a part of the Northern Counties operations. [2] ' The Massey factory was retained and used as a paint-shop and for final completion of bodywork assembled at Wigan Lane.
The Transport Act 1968 merged the municipal corporations of Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Oldham, Stockport, Rochdale, Bury and Stalybridge, Hyde, Mossley and Dukinfield Joint Board (SHMD Board). The resulting conglomerate was known as the Southeast Lancashire Northeast Cheshire Passenger Transport Authority, commonly known as SELNEC. SELNEC was faced with a fleet of 2,500 vehicles consisting of a wide variety of types and manufacturers, reflecting the preferences of their former municipal owners. Northern Counties worked closely with SELNEC to develop a standard bus for fleet replacement.
The Local Government Act 1972 came into effect on 1 April 1974. This reorganisation added Wigan Corporation Transport to SELNEC to create the Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive that was the largest bus operator outside London until privatisation in the late 1980s. A large proportion of Northern Counties production after this time was for the Greater Manchester fleet.
In 1975 the company collaborated with Foden, a well-known manufacturer of commercial vehicles, to produce a semi-integral double-deck vehicle intended to compete with chassis manufacturer Leyland. [3] Leyland had merged with traditional rival Daimler and was experiencing production and quality problems. In the event, only seven Foden NCs were produced, going to Greater Manchester PTE, West Midlands PTE, West Yorkshire PTE, Derby City Transport and Potteries Motor Traction. [4]
In June 1983, Greater Manchester Transport purchased a 49% shareholding in the business. [5]
In May 1991, Northern Counties was placed in administration. [6]
Northern Counties reputation and engineering skills saw it survive these difficult times and become a major supplier once again as demand picked up in the mid-1990s. In May 1995, it was purchased for £10 million by the Henlys Group, owner of Plaxton. The Northern Counties name was dropped in 1999, and vehicles were badged as Plaxton.
In 2000, Henlys entered a joint venture with the Mayflower Corporation, owner of bodybuilder Alexander and chassis manufacturer Dennis. The joint venture was known as TransBus, and vehicles were badged using the TransBus name. [7]
On 31 March 2004, TransBus International was put into administration. [8] On 21 May 2004, TransBus International was bought by a consortium of merchant banker Noble Grossart, and businessmen David Murray and Brian Souter. [9] The new company was named Alexander Dennis. On 26 January 2005, the former Northern Counties Wigan plant closed, after completing outstanding orders of Plaxton President bodies. [10]
Dennis Specialist Vehicles was an English manufacturer of commercial vehicles based in Guildford, building buses, fire engines, lorries (trucks) and municipal vehicles such as dustcarts. All vehicles were made to order to the customer's requirements and more strongly built than mass production equivalents. For most of the 20th century the Dennis company was Guildford's main employer.
Alexander Dennis is a British bus manufacturing company based in Larbert, Scotland. The largest bus and coach manufacturer in the United Kingdom with a 50% market share in 2019, it has manufacturing plants and partnerships in Canada, China, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and the United States.
Plaxton is an English builder of bus and coach vehicle bodies based in Scarborough. Founded in 1907 by Frederick William Plaxton, it became a subsidiary of Alexander Dennis in May 2007. In 2019, the maker was acquired by Canadian bus manufacturer New Flyer which then became NFI Group.
The Dennis Dominator was Dennis's first rear-engined double-decker bus chassis, it was launched in 1977.
The Plaxton President was a low floor double-decker bus body built at Northern Counties plant in Wigan, England and branded as a Plaxton product for its main production run. It was first unveiled in 1997 on the longitudinal Volvo B7L chassis and later built between 1998 and 2005 following a body redesign. When it became part of TransBus International, the body was sold under the TransBus name. The President was built on the Dennis/TransBus Trident, the DAF DB250 and the Volvo B7TL chassis.
Henlys Group PLC was a major London motor distributor and dealer founded in 1917 in London's Great Portland Street. In the 1980s it was taken over by a company associated with Michael Ashcroft then some years later sold to Yorkshire bus manufacturer Plaxton.
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.
The Volvo B10M was a mid-engined city bus and coach chassis manufactured by Volvo between 1978 and 2003. It succeeded the B58 and was equipped with the same 9.6-litre horizontally mounted Volvo diesel engine mounted under the floor behind the front axle. An articulated version under the model name Volvo B10MA was also offered, as was a semi-integral version known as the C10M, with the engine in the middle of the chassis.
The Leyland Atlantean is a predominantly double-decker bus chassis manufactured by Leyland Motors between 1958 and 1986. Only 17 Atlantean chassis were bodied as single deck from new.
MTL Trust Holdings was an English bus, coach and train operator based in Liverpool. MTL was originally part of the MPTE. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the bus operations were divested into a new independent company, Merseyside Transport Limited (MTL). Merseyside PTA retained shareholding, but the company was purchased by its management and staff in 1993. On 17 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva.
The Dennis Lance was a single-decker bus chassis manufactured by Dennis between 1991 and 2000, replacing the Dennis Falcon. Its low floor variant, the Dennis Lance SLF was built between 1993 and 1996. Between 1995 and 1998, Dennis also built its double-deck variant, the Dennis Arrow, as the replacement of the Dennis Dominator.
The Daimler Fleetline is a rear-engined double-decker bus chassis which was built between 1960 and 1983.
The Dennis Dorchester was a mid-engined heavy-duty single deck coach or bus chassis manufactured by Dennis in small numbers between 1983 and 1988.
The Northern Counties Palatine was a step-entrance 2-axle and 3-axle double-decker bus body built by Northern Counties from 1988 to 1999 in Wigan, England.
Busways Travel Services was a bus company, which operated local and regional bus services in Tyne and Wear, England. The company was purchased by the Stagecoach Group in July 1994.
The Foden NC was an unsuccessful design of double-decker bus chassis built by Foden of Sandbach and Northern Counties of Wigan in England between 1976 and 1978.
The Seddon Pennine RU was a rear-engined single-decker bus built by Seddon Diesel Vehicles/Seddon Atkinson between 1969 and 1974.
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive was the public body responsible for public transport in Greater Manchester between 1974 and 2011, when it became part of Transport for Greater Manchester.
Massey Brothers (Pemberton) Limited was a building and manufacturing company operating through much of the 20th century. It was formed in 1904 by the brothers William, Isaac and Thomas Massey, timber merchants and building contractors based in Pemberton, Greater Manchester, two miles west of Wigan. During the first fifteen years they built schools, mills, cinemas and houses and in 1919 started with the construction of bodies for cars, vans and charabancs. In the early 1920s they were agents for Ford cars and passenger vehicles, Tilling Stevens Petrol Electric buses and Columbia Six motor cars. A number of trams and buses were built for Wigan Corporation and their coachbuilding activities increased rapidly with many new customers being supplied by the end of the decade. Their building and construction activities continued throughout this period. By the mid thirties Masseys were supplying bodies on buses and trolleybuses mainly for municipal undertakings with occasional orders coming from independent operators. In the late thirties they built railcars for the Trujillo Railway in Peru and Railcar Cabs for The Sao Paulo Railway in Brazil. They were very active during the second world war with the building of Ministry of Supply "utility" bodies for many operators in England, Scotland and Wales plus fire brigade utility vehicles. After the war, with the need for replacement buses gaining momentum, the company became increasingly busy with repairing and building new buses and the rebuilding of bomb damaged property. Masseys had an envious reputation for solid PSV bodywork with their distinctive designs. The building and construction side of the business ceased in 1962 after the completion of some new houses but PSV bodybuilding continued until 1967 when they were taken over by another Wigan bodybuilder, Northern Counties Motor & Engineering Company. A book by Phil Thoms on the history of Masseys was published at the end of 2011
Mellor Coachcraft, known simply as Mellor or Mellor Bus, is a British bus manufacturer based in Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Founded in the 1960s, Mellor has primarily produced bodywork for various different minibus chassis throughout its history. Mellor is owned by parent company, Woodall Nicholson Group, alongside Treka Bus.
