Maryland (US), Dec 11 (IANS): It was a perfect shock-and-awe tactic, but not on some battlefield but at a company event. The owner of a Maryland-based company left his 200 employees shocked and overwhelmed by announcing eight million pounds Christmas bonus, a media report said.

The lucky workers were not expecting the gift from founder-chairman Edward St John, 81, as they had celebrated on Saturday achieving of company targets, The Sun reported.

Each employee was given a red envelope at the Christmas dinner. It contained roughly 38,000 pounds (around Rs 35 lakh) each. A video of the event showed surprised workers reacting with joy as realisation of what had happened sunk in.

John said the company wanted to reward the employees in a big way to celebrate achievement of firm's goal to make a significant impact on their lives.

"I am thankful for every one of our employees, for their hard work and dedication. I couldn't think of a better way to show it. I may steer the boat, but they're the ones that run the boat. They are the ones that make the boat go. Without the team, we are nothing."

"What happened tonight was magical. It's life-changing," said an employee.

The firm's real estate investments are valued at $3.5 billion (2.6 billion pounds).