page_title: Plaxton
section_title: Henlys and a new beginning
hierarchical_section_title: Plaxton / History / Henlys and a new beginning
caption_attribution_description: JP Executive Travel KX57 OVR, a MAN 18.240 built 2007 with a Plaxton ‘Centro’ B38F body on Moss Street, Bury with the 16:30 Bury Interchange to Radcliffe Bus Station via Watling Street, Ainsworth and Turks Road 486 service. Thursday 24th July 2008
context_page_description: 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. Since 2019, the maker is currently owned by Canadian bus manufacturer New Flyer.
context_section_description: The mid-1980s brought difficult times for Plaxton. A decline in orders due to the economic climate was compounded by management and production problems. The seasonal nature of coach production made recruiting difficult. In March 1987, Plaxton was taken over by Kirkby Bus & Coach, who were Plaxton's largest dealer. Kirkby soon invested in modernising the Scarborough factory and addressed some industrial relations problems. Kirkby also marketed the Hungarian Ikarus buses in the United Kingdom.
  In 1989, Plaxtons bought Henlys, a company that included 34 motor dealers and Coleman Milne, makers of hearses and limousines. The name of the company was changed to Plaxton Group plc.
  In July 1989, Plaxton bought the manufacturing rights for the coach products of its main domestic competitor, Duple for £4 million. This included the jigs for the Duple 320 and the Duple 425 integral. Duple Services Ltd., the spares and repair business, was also purchased. The 320 was re-worked by Plaxtons at Scarborough later in 1989 and 25 were built and sold as the Plaxton 321. Many components from the Paramount were used both internally and externally. Identifying traits being the squared up wheel arches and Paramount side mouldings. The 321 was around £6,000 cheaper than a comparable Paramount 3200 III and was only available from the Kirkby dealership. A Plaxton version of the higher floor Duple 340 was considered but none were built. A modified version of the Duple 425 integral design was introduced in 1991 and was briefly built in France by Carrosserie Lorraine as the Plaxton 425.
  Carrosserie Lorraine was a subsidiary of Iveco assembling Iveco 315 and 370 coaches for the French domestic market, but it was purchased by Plaxton in 1989 subject to a 3 year deal with Iveco to continue that arrangement.  Sales of the Iveco-Lorraine had never been high (totalling only around 660 between 1981 and 1992) and Plaxton's efforts to expand the business by offering Lorraine coaches in the UK market were frustrated by the early 1990s recession.  One batch of ten Iveco 315 Lorraine midicoaches was sold in the UK in 1990-92, and only twelve Plaxton 425 integrals were built at the French plant in 1991-92. The Carrosserie Lorraine factory closed in March 1992 when the three-year deal with Iveco expired.
  The Dennis Dart, released in 1989, had been a runaway success, so in 1991 the Plaxton Pointer midibus was announced, this was quite a utilitarian, square body. This was followed by the Plaxton Verde, which Plaxton hoped would match the success of its smaller sister, but it failed to capture the market quite as much as the Pointer, and it was clear that the bus industry wasn't buying 12m single-deckers in as large numbers any more. Later that year new coach bodies, the Plaxton Premiere and Plaxton Excalibur, were launched.
  In May 1992, after a management shake-up, the company was renamed Henlys Group.
  Henlys pursued a strategy of diversification and expansion through the 1990s. The established bus bodybuilder Northern Counties was bought in 1995 for £10 million. The UK bus and coach manufacturing business, trading under the Plaxton brand, continued to produce a range of bus and coach bodywork. It also owned one of the largest UK coach dealers, Kirkby, and provided after-sales services to coach and bus operators.
  In August 2000, Henlys entered a joint venture with Mayflower Corporation, owners of the Dennis and Alexander brands. The joint venture, known as TransBus International, included only the United Kingdom bus manufacturing operations of both companies, including Plaxton and Northern Counties. Henlys held a 30% stake in the joint venture, which employed 3,300 employees at seven locations. The traditional brands of Alexander, Dennis and Plaxton were replaced by TransBus International.
caption: JPT Bus Company Plaxton Centro bodied MAN 18.240 in Manchester in July 2008
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