Regional Victorian management consultancy TUNDRA Resource Analytics has been named the Victorian Growth Award winner at the 2026 Telstra Best of Business Awards, recognising its growth from a one-person business into a national team of more than 40.
Founded in 2017 by Canadian-Australian Laura Jeffery, TUNDRA supports mining, energy, manufacturing and other asset-intensive industries across Australia and internationally.
Its team has worked on more than 25 globally significant acquisition and divestment transactions, helping clients navigate complex business changes and improve operational and financial performance.
For Jeffery, the business began with a personal ambition to build a meaningful career without sacrificing family life or the freedom to live in regional Victoria.
Jeffery said: “I started TUNDRA as I prepared to move back to regional Victoria to live near my husband’s 5th generation family farm.”
Nine years on, the team has completed projects across Australia and in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ghana, Malawi, Singapore, South Africa and the United States, while offering staff flexibility to build careers wherever they choose to live.
TUNDRA began with a specialist equipment lifecycle optimisation model, which helps businesses determine the most economical time to maintain and replace their equipment fleets.
It has since grown into a full-service boutique consultancy spanning finance, modelling and data analytics; technical and operational advisory; people, change and communications; and transactions and transformations.
The company has delivered a compound annual growth rate of 55 per cent, with growth accelerating over the past 12 months, partly fuelled by its engagement on South32’s proposed sale of its global portfolio of aluminium operations to Alcoa.
Jeffery said the growth reflected demand for industry experts who pair deep sector knowledge with a strong focus on value.
She said many of her people have worked inside the industries TUNDRA serves, understand the operational pressures and financial decisions clients face, and have often been the ones procuring consulting work to exacting standards.
TUNDRA’s fully remote working model allows it to recruit across Australia, opening opportunities for experienced professionals whose location or personal and family commitments might otherwise limit their careers.
Jeffery said flexibility began as the starting point but has become a strength of the business, allowing the firm to assemble the right expertise for clients while creating opportunities for people in regional communities, parents and those balancing other commitments.
The team has also applied its skills closer to home. After the January 2026 Longwood bushfires, TUNDRA deployed a significant portion of its team to help operate the Longwood Fodder Depot alongside Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland and community volunteers.
Team members contributed operational, technical, safety and communications expertise to support the emergency distribution of more than $2.5 million of donated fodder to fire-affected properties.
Jeffery now chairs the Community Advisory Committee of the Strathbogie Disaster Relief Fund, and the team continues to provide pro bono technical and communications support to the Fund.
Jeffery said: “We’ve built something I’m incredibly proud of: a business where people can do challenging, meaningful work and still be present for the lives they want to lead.”
TUNDRA will progress to the national stage of the Telstra Best of Business Awards, which will be held in Hobart in November.