Dennis Dixon Ltd was formed in early 1987 when Dennis Dixon resigned from ICI Petrochemicals Division as Fleet Manager and left the company, taking with him hand-picked ICI drivers to start a new road tanker haulage company.
Dennis Dixon Ltd was formed in early 1987 when Dennis Dixon resigned from ICI Petrochemicals Division as Fleet Manager and left the company, taking with him hand-picked ICI drivers to start a new road tanker haulage company.
Dennis Dixon had obtained a contract from ICI Fibres at Harrogate to operate and maintain six ICI bulk powder tankers and seven ICI nylon tote bin trailers, to be pulled by three rented vehicles, double-shifted seven days per week. The contract was for the delivery of Nylon polymer chip to Doncaster and Lydney, with a spot contract for two road tankers carrying Formaldehyde and Phenol for ICI Petrochemical Division.
A year later, our first tanker was purchased from Magyar in France and our journey into road tankers began in earnest.
1987 | The company began trading using a small rented office with parking space for three vehicles. |
1988 | First road tanker purchased from Magyar. |
1989 | Gained BS 5750, a predecessor to the ISO 9001 & SQAS registrations that we hold today. |
1989 | Purchased premises in Murdock Road from Shell U.K. and eventually operated eight vehicles from these premises. |
1990 | Delivered our first European load to Basel, Switzerland for ICI Polyurethanes. |
1991 | Purchased our current depot in Tilbury Road, as the expansion of the company demanded larger premises, and sold the Murdock Road property. |
1993 | Further expanded with the win of a contract with Air Products of Billingham, carrying various amine products (plant now closed). |
1994 | Contracted to ICI Petrochemicals for the distribution of 75,000 tonnes of Methanol to customers nationwide (we still cover this work now). |
1996 | Purchased 1.5 acres of land to the rear of our premises to expand our parking facility and to build a tanker cleaning station. |
1997 | Formed a joint venture with Hoyer UK Ltd, to open an on-site, state-of-the-art cleaning station. At this point Hoyer purchased a 30% shareholding in Dennis Dixon Ltd and we continue to enjoy a good working relationship with them. |
1998 | Dennis Dixon retired as Managing Director of the company and the position was taken up by Steven Dixon. |
2002 | Dennis Dixon Ltd started investment to modernise the fleet of road tankers and standardise on 'ground operated' equipment, in the interest of driver safety. From this date, all new road tankers have been purchased with ground operated discharge capability, plus 4 handrails giving all-round protection when cleaning or loading at sites without fixed gantries |
2003 | First Feldbinder tankers arrive from Germany. |
2005 | New offices built – giving more than double the previous facilities. |
2007 | 50th new build tanker arrives. |
2009 | First Euro 5 specification vehicles arrive. |
2010 | Purchased 1.5 acres of land adjacent to the depot to further expand the business. |
2013 | Tank GPT 99 ordered: meaning 99 tanks have been operated in our history! |
2014 | First Euro 6 specification vehicles arrive. |
2015 | Delivered over 18,000 loads in one year. |
2017 | 40th new build 37,500 litre tanker arrives. |