3,000 vehicles, 2,800 staff, and the world’s first diesel-to-electric bus conversion from a regional workshop. And it all started with one man and one idea.
One bus, one idea. When Jenna Snelgrove walked on stage at the 2026 Family Business Conference in Hobart last week to accept the Family Business of the Year award, her father and uncle were not in the room. They were driving buses around New Zealand.
That detail says a lot about how the Snelgrove family runs things. Jenna is a fourth-generation family member and General Manager of Bus and Coach at Tranzit Group. She accepted the award alongside Renee Snelgrove, a director of the company. Tranzit also took home the Legacy Family Business Award on the same night.
Founded in 1925, Tranzit Group is now New Zealand’s largest family-owned transport and tourism company. It operates more than 3,000 vehicles and employs 2,800 people across public transport, school runs, crew transfers, and tourism.
Jenna was quick to put the numbers in context, telling the audience the scale is not what the family is most proud of. “It’s the two things that we started with, our people and our pioneering spirit,” she said.
Still at the wheel
The company traces back to a single idea and a single vehicle. Jenna’s great-grandfather started it with the ambition to connect communities, a mission that has stayed with the business across a century and four generations.
“Our great grandfather started 100 years ago with one simple idea and one bus, to connect communities,” Jenna said. “We are now New Zealand’s largest family-owned transport and tourism company operating nationally and a little footprint into Australia.”
She closed her speech by crediting the wider team, but saved a particular acknowledgement for family. “I would like to acknowledge my dad and my uncle,” she said. “They are driving a bus around New Zealand as we speak.”
One of the standout moments in Jenna’s speech was the story of innovation coming not from a major city, but from a workshop in a New Zealand regional town of 50,000 people. That team converted diesel buses into electric ones, which Jenna described as a southern hemisphere first. Tranzit had already introduced New Zealand’s first electric bus back in 2017.
“We were the first to introduce an electric bus into New Zealand back in 2017, and our workshop team, from a town of 50,000 people, have converted diesel buses into electric buses, which is a southern hemisphere first,” she said.
The wider winners
The awards, run by Family Business Association as part of the 2026 Family Business Conference: Asia-Pacific, also recognised several Australian businesses. Laura Goldberg of Hurricane’s Grill Restaurants in New South Wales won the Leading Woman in Family Business Award. Jack Di Losa of Cold Xpress in Victoria and Jordan Pedley of STRIKER in Western Australia shared the Emerging Leader Award. Global Product Supply Management from New South Wales took the Founder’s Family Business Award, and Contemporary Catering from Victoria won the Established Family Business Award.
Catherine Sayer, CEO of Family Business Association, said the recognition matters beyond the trophy. “Family businesses are central to New Zealand’s economic strength and community identity,” she said. “These awards honour the vision, resilience and commitment that family business leaders bring to their work every day. Their impact is significant, and deserves recognition.”
Submissions for the 2026/2027 Family Business Excellence Awards are now open at familybusinessassociation.org.
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