Alexander Dennis restructures Scottish plants to save 200 jobs amid bus industry challenges
NFI Group Inc. (NFI), a leading manufacturer of buses and coaches and a provider of comprehensive aftermarket parts and service solutions, subsidiary Alexander Dennis, today announced it is consulting on a new manufacturing approach aimed at securing Scottish production operations and safeguarding jobs.
Under the consultation, Alexander Dennis would convert its Larbert manufacturing facility to a chassis manufacturing site, supporting all its low-emission and zero-emission bus products. The Company would also close its legacy Falkirk facility, aligning with its long-standing plans to exit that site.
The proposal would safeguard approximately 200 skilled manufacturing and support jobs previously at risk of redundancy and would retain approximately 350 roles within Scotland.
In total, up to 115 roles would be placed at risk of potential redundancy. However, Alexander Dennis would retain the flexibility to reintroduce bus body manufacturing to its Larbert facility at a later date, enabling the company to respond positively to future needs and to match production capacity to market demand.
Alexander Dennis previously proposed closing both of its Scottish manufacturing sites in Falkirk and Larbert, with up to 400 jobs at risk of redundancy. In September 2025, Alexander Dennis and the Scottish Government agreed on a first-of-its-kind furlough scheme aimed at protecting jobs and long-term manufacturing capacity in Scotland, which has enabled the company to propose a different outcome for its Scottish manufacturing colleagues.
"This represents the best possible outcome for our business, employees, customers, and supply chain partners in the current climate," said Paul Davies, President & Managing Director, Alexander Dennis. "We will continue to work with the Scottish Government, its agencies, and the trade unions to support staff during the consultation period. We are absolutely committed to doing the right thing by our team members and our stakeholders to protect jobs, invest in our business, and maintain strategically important manufacturing capability in Scotland."
"While this is a difficult decision, the proposal is about aligning Alexander Dennis' production capacity with today's demand. It also enables us to preserve flexibility going forward should we see changes in domestic content requirements," said John Sapp, President and Chief Executive Officer, NFI. "Closing the legacy Falkirk facility and converting the Larbert site to chassis manufacturing enables us to operate more efficiently, improving our competitive position, while maintaining a strong footprint in Scotland that we can scale in response to market conditions."
The UK domestic bus manufacturing sector has lost significant market share in the last 12 months, with 51% of all zero-emission buses purchased in the UK sourced from overseas manufacturers - an increase of 25 percentage points from 2024. These increased purchases from non-UK bus manufacturers have occurred even as UK taxpayer-funded contributions in the industry increased.
While there has recently been increased focus on the domestic impact of bus manufacturing and local content requirements, government actions have not led to changes in domestic manufacturing demand.
Today's announcement does not change NFI's guidance for fiscal year 2026, originally announced on March 11, 2026.
