Recruiter who was allowed to buy back his insolvent firm falls behind on payments after offering staff Vegas trip

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 fallen behind on promised payments after pledging to send staff on an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas. The development is the latest case to raise questions about the practice of “phoenixism”, accounting’s controversial art of liquidating companies to allow directors to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts. Premier Group Recruitment went into administration in September owing £2.9m , including £647,000 to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which had begun enforcement proceedings against the company. The recruiter’s assets were acquired three days later by a new company, PGGBR Ltd, founded by Andrew Woosnam, Premier’s 99% shareholder, who made an initial £10,000 payment and promised to transfer a further £600,000 via monthly £25,000 instalments over the following two years. The restructured business initially appeared to be booming, with one of PGGBR’s early actions being a post on LinkedIn that announced: “END OF YEAR TRIP 2026. We’re going BIG … That means our consultants have the chance to hit their targets throughout the year and earn an ALL-EXPENSES-PAID trip to Viva Las Vegas.” However, the new company now appears to have fallen behind on the agreed payment plan. …