A recruitment entrepreneur whose original firm went into administration in 2025 has resurfaced with a new company that acquired the old business’s assets, while creditors are pursuing more than £3 million in unpaid debts.
Administrations, a near-immediate buyback and mounting tax claims
Andrew Woosnam’s Premier Group Recruitment was placed into administration in September 2025 with reported liabilities of £2.9m. The company’s assets were purchased three days later by a new vehicle, PGGBR Ltd, also owned by Woosnam, after he made an initial payment and promised deferred instalments to administrators.
Companies House filings and the reporting examined by The Guardian show the rescue arrangement depended on future payments that ultimately did not materialise. The new company subsequently accrued further debts to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which is among the creditors now seeking repayment.
To help readers understand the scale, the principal figures in the reporting are converted here at an indicative rate of £1 = R23.50 (used for illustration only):
- Original administration liabilities: £2.9m (about R68.2m)
- Debt reportedly owed to HMRC: £647,000 (about R15.2m)
- Total creditor claims being pursued: more than £3m (about R70.5m)
- Property bought by the director in 2013: £2.2m (about R51.7m)
- Initial payment for assets: £10,000 (about R235,000) with a promised further £600,000 (about R14.1m) paid in monthly £25,000 instalments (about R587,500) — payments that administrators say did not fully materialise
How the transaction worked and why it matters
The sequence — an insolvent company’s assets bought quickly by a connected party — fits the model known as a "pre-pack" administration. Pre-packs are legal and sometimes used to preserve value and jobs by allowing a business to continue trading, but they are controversial because they can leave unsecured creditors, including tax authorities and small suppliers, with large losses.
In this case, administrators accepted an offer that included deferred consideration from the purchaser linked to the seller. Although the promised future payments made that offer appear larger on paper than a competing all-cash bid, the later failure to deliver those instalments left creditors worse off and saw HMRC continue enforcement action.
| Item | Reported amount (GBP) | Approx. equivalent (ZAR) |
|---|---|---|
| Premier Group liabilities on administration | £2.9m | R68.2m |
| Amount due to HMRC | £647,000 | R15.2m |
| Purchase price paid by new company (initial) | £10,000 | R235,000 |
| Promised additional consideration | £600,000 | R14.1m |
The outcome described in the reporting highlights two commercial and public-policy concerns:
- First, creditors — including the public revenue authority — can be left with shortfalls when deferred payments from connected buyers do not arrive.
- Second, although pre-pack deals can preserve operating continuity and jobs, they can also reduce recoveries for unsecured claimants and undermine confidence in insolvency processes if arrangements are seen as favouring insiders.
For households and small suppliers, the main practical consequence is simple: a contracting customer that enters administration can produce delayed or partial payments to those who supplied goods or services, worsening cash-flow pressures for otherwise viable micro and small businesses. For the public finances, unpaid tax claims increase the administrative burden on the revenue authority and, if repeated at scale, can erode tax collections.
The Guardian report notes that the property owned by Woosnam has attracted interest from insolvency practitioners seeking to realise assets on behalf of creditors owed in excess of £3m. That house, bought in 2013 for £2.2m, is one among the tangible assets identified as part of creditor recovery efforts.
The reporting stops short of alleging criminality; it documents a sequence of corporate events and the consequences for creditors. It also sits within a wider debate on whether insolvency legislation and practice strike the right balance between rescuing businesses and protecting the rights of creditors, including the tax authority.
Readers should note that the currency conversions above are indicative and intended to give a sense of scale in rand terms. This coverage is factual and not financial advice.
