Recruiter places ‘phoenix’ firm into liquidation just months after repurchase erased millions in debt
New company reportedly quickly fell behind with promised repayments to administrator A recruitment executive who was allowed to buy back the assets of his bust company in instalments, despite it accumulating almost £3m of debt, has placed his new business into liquidation after falling behind with promised payments to the administrator. The news is the latest event to raise questions about the…
Premier Group Recruitment, a recruitment firm, was placed into administration in September 2025 due to £2.9m of debt, including £647k owed to HMRC. The business was then bought by a new company, PGGBR Ltd, founded by Premier's 99% shareholder Andrew Woosnam, with an initial £10k payment and £25k monthly installments over two years.
Despite a perceived positive start, including "all expenses paid" trips to Las Vegas for consultants, PGGBR quickly fell behind with promised payments, filing for liquidation in March 2025. Woosnam, who received a £1.2m director's loan from the defunct Premier and made almost £2m in dividends since 2022, also made job cuts at PGGBR in July, reportedly affecting at least half his staff.
The company's website was later removed, and its management team was listed at 12 people. Woosnam has since changed the name of his business, founded a year ago, from PGUSA to PGREC. Research suggests that allowing connected parties to buy back their failed businesses via future payments increases the failure rate of insolvencies significantly.
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