Staff at a Bradford-based publisher were stunned this week when they received cheques from a £4m trust fund.

Emerald employees received the unexpected bonuses after shareholders of a trust fund decided to distribute a special dividend.

The money has been distributed to 160 current and former employees who worked at the Toller Lane HQ at the end of 1995.

The minimum staff bonuses were £1,000, the average pay out was £25,000. Some staff got more than £100,000.

Kathryn Toledo, business development director for the firm, said: "Staff were stunned, we knew we would be receiving a bonus, but had no idea when that would be or that it would be for such vast sums.''

She added: "It was a very nice surprise and there was a little bit of bouncing around the office and whooping here!"

The dividend was made possible following a record year for Emerald which saw turnover rise to £20m, with profits up by 70 per cent.

The company, which continues to expand, also recently secured over three quarters if a million pounds worth of orders from China.

Dr Keith Howard, managing director at the firm, said the bonuses were to reward staff for the company's continued success.

He said: "The business has exceeded the initial expectations of its founders and it is only right that we reward the people who helped to make that achievement possible."

Dr Howard added that current staff are benefiting from a Profit Related Pay scheme.

He said: "We have paid out £2.5 million in PRP since 1996 and will continue to share the company's profits with our staff."

Emerald, which has a portfolio of more than 130 management, library and information services titles, has offices across the globe including the US, Australia and Japan.

More than 80 per cent of its sales are made outside of the United Kingdom. Emerald, which is the trading name of MCB UP Ltd, an independent publisher, was originally founded by a group of business school academics in Bradford in 1967.

The firm publishes journals on topics including accounting, auditing and economics, education, general management and training.