Aussie Bus Firm Gives $15m to Staff

The Grenda family in Melbourne, Australia has been praised for giving a $15 million cut from the sale of their 66-year-old bus business to the company’s staff. Grenda Corporation is a third-generation family company and its transit operations (Grenda Transit Management) have been sold for $400 million after difficulties keeping it in the family. The transaction has been sweetened by praise after the now former owners decided to share some of the proceeds with the workers.

Ken Grenda, the 79-year-old founder and major shareholder in the company, along with sons Scott and Geoff – the head of Volgren and Grenda Transit Management respectively – have paid an average of $8,500 to the 1,800 staff members. Some workers, however, have been given as much as $30,000. The bonuses were based on how long the staff members had worked for the company and what positions they served.

Ken told reporters this week that a company is only as good as the staff, and theirs are “fantastic”, so these bonuses were in recognition of that. They have had workers there were two generations, with one man in the same job for 52 years. The company has grown from just four bus routes in 1945 serving Dandenong to 1,300 business serving Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. That only happens when good staff are working for a business.

Last year, when announcing the sale process, Ken said that the decision hadn’t been taken lightly – especially given the involvement that he and his sons continue to have in the business. However, interest from the family continues to fade as the family grows, and the next generation isn’t expected to be in a position to run the company for several years. Because of this, they have made the decision that the business would be better positioned being run by an organisation with strong ambitions that will continue capturing the substantial opportunities of growth and build on the current platform.

Peak bus body Bus Industry Confederation executive director Michael Apps describes Ken as a bus industry “legend”. This is a long-standing family bus firm, and they have been dedicated to the industry and their workers, in his experience. The general feeling in the industry is that it’s a shame the family has decided to sell. However, business is business, and decisions have to be made.

Grenda Transit Management was sold last year for $400 million to Ventura, a rival Melbourne bus company that plans to keep the staff. The transit operation provides route, charter and school bus services throughout the city. Apps anticipates the takeover to be seamless, as Ventura managing director Andrew Cornwall runs a good operation. It’s good that a company based in Australia bought GTM, he noted.

The bus making arm of the corporation, Volgren, which is the biggest in Australia, was also sold to Marco Polo, the Brazilian bus giant. The company has four factories in Australia that supply buses to private and government fleets. Apps believes the purchase was driven by the Brazilian firm’s desire to be seen as an international manufacturer and by the technical expertise at Volgren. Between 80% and 90% of Australia’s buses are manufactured in the country, he added.

Despite selling the company and nearing the age of 80, Ken doesn’t plan to stop working yet. He is considering the next kind of business he will get into. Aside from that, he gave some advice to other bosses – don’t get greedy and look after workers. He is completely dismayed at the level of salaries some chief executives take. He thinks it’s much more than what anyone is worth, he added.