The Dennis Dart midibus chassis was launched in 1988, two years after the deregulation of the British bus industry, aimed at operators wanting to move away from van-based minibuses.

The front of the Pointer featured a two-piece split windscreen with a full-size destination display above, and the interior, fitted out to the recommendations of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DiPTAC), featured an optional split step entrance and a gradual series of steps towards the back of the bus, capable of holding a capacity of 39 seated and 15 standing passengers.

The facelifted Pointer 1 was aimed to be more curved than its predecessor, receiving a rounded roof dome and double-curvature windscreen, as well as having the headlights moved lower down the front panel.

[11] The first-generation Plaxton Pointer on Dennis and Volvo chassis received a number of export orders to some right-hand drive markets.

[17] Made available for general purchase on the Dart SLF chassis from 1 January 1998, the first production examples of the Pointer 2 were delivered to FirstBus operators Bristol City Line, First Greater Manchester and Badgerline, with further orders upon being received by MTL North, Tellings-Golden Miller, Durham Travel Services, Metrobus and Metroline.

[17] The Pointer 2 also became the Stagecoach Group's standard low-floor single-deck midibus, with numerous examples delivered to Stagecoach subsidiaries across the United Kingdom, including a £5.6 million (equivalent to £10,561,000 in 2023) order for 75 in August 2005 as part of a major fleet replacement programme shortly after the group's purchase of Liverpool independent Glenvale Transport.

Plaxton, once again an independent company, signalled its return to the bus market by developing the Centro on VDL and MAN chassis in 2005 to join its Primo low-floor minibus in competition with the Pointer.

[14] Hong Kong's first Super Pointer Darts were delivered to Park Island Passenger Transport, all of which were painted yellow and equipped with luggage racks.

The largest of these was Canadian provincial bus operator BC Transit, who took delivery of 90 air-conditioned Pointer 2s on Dart SLF chassis between 1999 and 2001 for lower-density routes in and around Whistler, British Columbia and the wider Lower Mainland region.