Firm that went bust owing £650k to HMRC offers staff Las Vegas trip after being bought by ex-owner
A recruitment business that went bust owing the tax authorities and other creditors almost £3m has promised to send its staff on an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas after being repurchased by its former owner for an initial £10,000.Premier Group Recruitment went into administration in September with debts of £2.9m – including £647,000 owed to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which had commenced 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.Shorn of its debts, the new company has been active on social media, posting on LinkedIn: “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.”The new company said it will pay flights and accommodation for staff who will be given “unforgettable experiences” for “zero cost, just results”.“If you’re looking to get into recruitment (or take your career to the next level) and want to be properly rewarded for your hard work, this is your sign,” the company added.Aside from the former recruitment business owing the UK taxpayer hundreds of thousands of pounds, Woosnam had borrowed £1.2m from the old Premier through a director’s loan – an outstanding debt that appears to have increased by £265,000 since the end of its 2024 financial year, after which the business admitted to “substantial doubt about the company’s ability to meet its obligations in the foreseeable future”.
Meanwhile, Premier’s 2022 and 2023 annual reports showed a total of £1.95m in dividends were paid to the company’s shareholders.The deal by Woosnam to buy the business out of administration appears to be an example of what is known as “phoenixism” – when companies are liquidated and directors are able to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts.HMRC has previously raised the issue of phoenixism, which – while generally legal – it estimates costs the exchequer about 22% of the £3.8bn of tax losses reported in 2022 to 2023.
Woosnam’s new company reacquired his former business’s assets by paying an initial £10,000 and then committing to “monthly instalments of £25,000 over the period to 30 September 2027”, bringing the total purchase price to £610,000 – according to a report by administrators Rob Keyes and David Taylor of KRE Corporate Recovery.The instalments will probably be paid out of the new business.Neither Woosnam nor Keyes responded to invitations from the Guardian to comment or to provide details of payments made to creditors since last year’s administration deal.The administrators, who were appointed by the old Premier business, also turned down an offer by an unnamed second bidder – who offered “an initial cash consideration of £321,000” as well as a “further royalty payment” – which is thought to have been potentially worth an extra £110,000.The administrators have previously stated that they estimate recovering about half of the outstanding £1.
2m director’s loan.
Even amid rising economic uncertainty, now is not the time to hug your job
After all the employee protests over the past few years – the “great resignations”, the “quiet quittings”, the “bare-minimum Mondays” and “coffee badgings” – we have finally arrived at “job hugging”.Amid all the economic uncertainty and the rising costs of everything, people aren’t feeling as confident as they once were. Instead of slacking off while you hunt for something better, everyone’s scared about losing their jobs. With all the news about big corporate layoffs and the ominous and still-undefined threat of AI, it’s understandable that people are hugging their jobs.A recent report from job search site Monster
Treasury considering changes to Australia’s contentious tobacco excise, as calls grow for a freeze
Experts say a freeze on the federal government’s contentious tobacco excise should be considered, after the Treasury revealed it was modelling the impacts of cigarette prices on demand amid a booming black market.Lachlan Vass, a research manager at the e61 Institute, said the Treasury’s examination of “price elasticity” and demand for tobacco would be a necessary step to costing potential reforms to the excise.Jim Chalmers, the treasurer, and Mark Butler, the health minister, have previously rebuffed any suggestion that reducing the sky-high cost of cigarettes was the solution to curbing the black market trade, which has ballooned over the past five years and smashed a $17.8bn hole in the budget since 2020-21.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailBut when asked at Senate estimates last week why a cut to the excise couldn’t be considered as part of a wider strategy to curb the illegal tobacco trade, Katy Gallagher, the finance minister, left the door open to a change in excise policy
California’s billionaires pour cash into elections as big tech seeks new allies
Tech billionaires are leveraging tens of millions of dollars to influence California politics in a marked uptick from their previous participation in affairs at the state capitol. Behemoths such as Google and Meta are getting involved in campaigns for November’s elections, as are venture capitalists, cryptocurrency entrepreneurs and Palantir’s co-founders. The industry’s goals run the gamut – from fighting a billionaire tax to supporting a techie gubernatorial candidate to firing up new, influential super political action committees (Pacs).The phenomenon squarely fits the moment for the state’s politics – with 2026 being the year that Politico has dubbed “the big tech flex”.Gavin Newsom, California’s tech-friendly governor who’s been quick to veto legislation that cramps the sector’s unfettered growth, is reaching his term limit
No swiping involved: the AI dating apps promising to find your soulmate
Dating apps exploit you, dating profiles lie to you, and sex is basically something old people used to do. You might as well consider it: can AI help you find love?For a handful of tech entrepreneurs and a few brave Londoners, the answer is “maybe”.No, this is not a story about humans falling in love with sexy computer voices – and strictly speaking, AI dating of some variety has been around for a while. Most big platforms have integrated machine learning and some AI features into their offerings over the past few years.But dreams of a robot-powered future – or perhaps just general dating malaise and a mounting loneliness crisis – have fuelled a new crop of startups that aim to use the possibilities of the technology differently
India v Pakistan: T20 Cricket World Cup – live
7th over: Pakistan 47-4 (U Khan 29, S Khan 2) Usman Khan isn’t done yet, he glances for four past the keeper and then uses his feet to get out to an Axar Patel length ball and drive down the ground for a second boundary in the over. Oh ye of little faith! (It is still done though)6th over: Pakistan 38-4 (U Khan 21, S Khan 1) Varun Chakravarthy dance through an over of googlies and flippers that costs just four runs. Barring something mid boggling, this game is done.5th over: Pakistan 34-4 (U Khan 18, S Khan 0) Shadab Khan joins Usman Khan in the middle. He’s nearly pinned first ball by Axar too but this one was sneaking down leg
Winter Olympics 2026: GB glory in mixed team snowboard cross final, Brignone wins women’s giant slalom – live
Good start from Bankes and she knows she can reel Casta but there is a threat in third from Moioli … A little bobble from Casta and Bankes shifts into gold medal position … Can she stay in pole position into the final section? YES! GREAT BRITAIN WIN GOLD! Their first ever Olympic medal in this event!Bankes is cool, calm as she crosses the finish line. Meanwhile, Nightingale has absolutely launched himself into the GB fans. Italy take silver and France with the bronze.Aha, Graham Searles is here to relieve me, so I’ll budge up and allow him to get settled and ready for that final coming up seven minutes from now. Peace out
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