120 Years of Dennis Buses

The origins of Dennis Brothers dates back to the 1890s, when John Dennis moved from his home in Devon to Guildford and began building bicycles. In 1901, he diversified into motor vehicles, at first cars and two years later vans, fire engines, and buses. While car production ceased in 1913, development of the larger vehicles grew and after the First World War the company’s products were to be seen across the whole of the UK and several overseas countries. In 1972, it was sold to the Hestair Group and between 1989 and 2004, when it was purchased by consortium Alexander Dennis, it changed ownership several times. Over the years Dennis has produced a wide and varied range of buses and coaches and is now the UK’s largest manufacturer of passenger transport vehicles.


This book will trace the development of Dennis, complimented by a selection of carefully chosen photographs, none of which have ever previously been published.