An Australian boss has stunned his staff by giving them a staggering A$15 million (£10m) in bonuses as a thank you for their service.

Ken
Grenda and his sons gave the cash rewards to almost 2,000 staff after
the sale of their 66-year-old Melbourne-based bus company Grenada Corp.
Some employees were so shocked by the gesture that they called their banks to ask if there had been a mistake in their
statementsSome workers received A$30,000 (£20,000) to A$100,000 (£67,500) each.


The Grenda family racked in A$400m after the selling the company to Ventura, another transport company last year.


The third generation family business
began in 1925 when their ancestor George Grenda started a milk carrying company.

In 1945, he purchased four
bus routes and twelve months
later sold his milk truck company and concentrated on building his
public transport venture which until recently was owned by Ken Grenda. 'You
know we've got employees that stretch over 40 years, so it is a pretty
nice thing to do,' Ken Grenda's son, Scott, told ABC News.Mr
Grenda, who is also the managing director of the company, said his
father was sad about selling the business and wanted to show his
gratitude to the staff for their service.'A
business is only as good as its people and our people are fantastic,'
said the senior Mr Grenda, who has been dubbed the 'best' and 'most
generous' boss in Australia.
Gratitude: The family has been swamped with about 100 emails and countless phone calls of thanks from staff


'We have had people here who are second generation, and one fellow in the same job for 52 years.'


The family has been swamped with about 100 emails and countless phone calls of thanks from staff.

All staff will keep their jobs under the new owners.

Iain
Beberidge, who has driven with the company for 15 years, told Nine
News, the appreciation the employees felt was not all about the money.
'Ken looked after his employees, he treated them like family,' he said.


'Every time he comes past the depot, he shakes everyone's hands, and says 'g'day'.


'He knows everyone by their first names.'


Grenda
bus driver Heath, has only been with the company for just 10 months,
but still received a windfall of around A$850 (£573). 'Some employees were calling their banks assuming it was an error, he told The Telegraph.


'Good bosses are hard to find and Ken was a very good boss, one of a kind.'


The third generation family business
began in 1925 when George Grenda started a milk carrying company,
collecting milk in cans from farms around the Dandenong area and
delivering it to metropolitan dairies.
The family business continued to grow and was operating 12 trucks by 1945.


In
1945, George then purchased four bus routes from Shaves Bus Services
which covered an area around Oakleigh, Dandenong, Berwick and
Cheltenham.
Twelve months later George sold his milk truck company and concentrated on building his public transport venture.



Grenda is also Australia's largest bus maker, building about 600 buses a year.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2094771/Could-worlds-generous-boss-Staff-paid-15m-bonuses-thank-sells-bus-business.html#ixzz1lpdy5w9f