Andrews & Partners has announced its highest dividend pay-out for a decade to the three charitable trusts that own it.

The hand-out comes after 2014 proved the most profitable for the business since 2006.

Altogether, the three trusts are getting a £593,000 pay-out delivered from Andrews’ profits.

Andrews, which has offices throughout the south of England, is wholly owned by Andrews Charitable Trust, Christian Book Promotion Trust and Christian Initiative Trust.

The pay-out marks an increase of £41,000 compared with the previous year year.

Andrews is the only property group in the UK to be wholly owned by charities – in line with the thinking of founder Cecil Jackson Cole, a well-known philanthropist and humanitarian who also founded Oxfam, Help the Aged, the Anchor Housing Trust and Action Aid.

His vision was that the more successful a business could be commercially, the more it could donate.

The latest cheque was handed over to Sian Edwards, charity director at Andrews Charitable Trust, the largest beneficiary and who was acting on behalf of all the trusts, by chief executive Michael Robson at the Andrews annual staff conference.

Robson said: “The ethos that Cecil Jackson Cole installed in this business is one that our team still holds dear today.

“Simply, his vision was for business to benefit society, and by focusing on this our staff benefit from an added dimension to their day to day work.”

One of the beneficiaries of funding from Andrews Charitable Trust has been Bristol Together, an organisation that works with ex-offenders to develop property which is then sold or leased to housing associations.

Another is a dementia charity, Dementia Adventure, and a third is 2^nd Chance, which helps young people and which will have received £200,000 by the end of this year.

Sian Edwards receives the cheque from Michael Robson