Dawsongroup
Heritage

From a small family road haulage business with a single truck, Dawsongroup has evolved into a worldwide asset hire business employing nearly a thousand people – and it is still family-owned. Operating in every industry, from pharmaceutical and food producers to construction and defence, Dawsongroup has over 30,000 supply chain links and more than 200 different types of assets available to hire, and its Smarter Asset Strategy ensures its customers always have first-class service and the latest technology at their fingertips.

1935 1935-1969 1935: A.E.H. Dawson started his road haulage business in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, with one Studebaker truck. 1955: The business developed and expanded with more trucks, and Dawson’s son, Peter – today’s Executive Chairman – joined the business. 1980 1980-1989 1980: The Dawsongroup was formed. 1985: The Group was reorganised to trade as ‘Dawsongroup’, controlled by Peter Dawson, his family and family trusts. 1988: Dawsongroup acquired a Greenfield site in Milton Keynes – the site of the Group’s headquarters today. 1989: DG finance was established to maximise the profitability of fleet disposals and promote the business’s financial products. 2000 2000 - 2009 2003: Sweepers were added to the material handling product range and a Polish subsidiary was set up. 2004: The Group managed over 14,800 assets by the end of the year, an increase of 10% from 2003. 2006: Dawsongroup sweepers separated from Dawsongroup material handling to become a new business based in Brighouse, Leeds. 2020 2020 - 2025 2020: Dawsongroup celebrated 85 years of owning and maintaining assets. 2021: Dawsongroup expanded to the southern hemisphere with a new tcs office in Auckland, New Zealand. 2022: Dawsongroup won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation for the Temp °store. 2022: Dawsongroup power solutions was established. 2022: A new tcs branch was established in South Carolina, USA. 2023: Dawsongroup power solutions rebranded to Dawsongroup energy solutions. 2024: Dawsongroup celebrates 50 years of rental. 2025: Dawsongroup celebrates 90 years of trading. 1970 1970 - 1979 1970: The fleet expanded to 200 heavy goods vehicles and operated under the name Dawsonfreight. 1974: After being appointed as a Volvo Truck distributor with territory from North London to South Birmingham, Dawsonfreight Commercials (DFC) became the biggest selling Volvo distributorship in the UK. 1974: Dawsonrentals commenced trading. 1990 1990-1997 1990: An innovative product line was introduced – rental and leasing of portable cold stores. 1993: Dawsongroup Nederlands BV was set up in Netherlands. 1994: Dawsongroup bus and coach was established. 1995: Dawsonrentals branched out into materials handling equipment. 1997: The expansion into Europe continued with new locations in France, Germany and Ireland. 2010 2010 - 2019 2011: What we now know as Dawsongroup vans was first established as Hiregate Vehicle Rental (HVR) in 2011, with the sales aspect following closely. 2013: HVR was rebranded to Dawsonrentals vans and Dawsonrentals van sales, and the flagship vans site was set up in Milton Keynes. 2014: Dawsonrentals Ibérica opened in Barcelona, Spain, offering portable cold stores and blast freezers. 2015: Dawsonrentals portable cold stores rebranded to Dawsonrentals temperature control solutions (tcs) to reflect the growing diversity of the business. 2016: Stephen J. Miller, Group CEO, was appointed to his current role. 2018: Dawsongroup acquired Tectoniks, a manufacturer of bespoke inflatable structures including 360° cinemas, event venues and warehouses. 2018: As a demonstration of the diversity of the products and solutions being offered, Dawsonrentals was rebranded to Dawsongroup.
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UK Head office

Delaware Drive
Tongwell
Milton Keynes
MK15 8JH

01908 218111
contactus@dawsongroup.co.uk

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Dawsongroup plc | Company reg. no. 01902154 (registered in England and Wales)