DENNIS

Dennis Brothers was founded in 1895 initially to make bicycles before moving into motor vehicles in 1898. They built their first fire appliance in 1908 for Bradford Fire Brigade and grew to become the predominant supplier to the UK Fire Service for much of the 20th century before ceasing production in 2007. Throughout this period Dennis manufactured  a range of fire appliances including the N Series, G Series, Ace, Big Six, Big Four, Light Six, Light Four, F Series, D Series, R Series, RS/ SS Series and in its final years the Rapier, Sabre and Dagger models.

For many year Dennis built fully integrated fire appliances (chassis, cab and bodywork) but this stopped in the 1980s when it switched production to chassis and cab only. Much of the bodybuilding from then on was carried out by John Dennis Coachbuilders (JDC), an independent company created by the grandson of one of the founding Dennis Brothers. JDC continued to build bodywork for a range of manufacturers until it closed in 2019. With Dennis ending production of fire appliances in 2007 there's a ever diminishing number still  in service and those that are will be due for replacement in the near future marking the end of an era.