APPRENTICE winner James White’s recruitment firm has gone into liquidation owing nearly £200k – seven years after winning a £250k investment from Lord Sugar.
Right Time Recruitment owes £10,000 to HMRC among other creditors.
James, 33, won series 13 of the BBC reality show – and had a fling with fellow contestant Jade English.
Lord Sugar pumped cash into his recruitment firm, but the entrepreneur pulled out of the business in 2020.
And this week James appointed a liquidator to close Right Time – and revealed the extent of its cash woes.
Along with the taxman, the firm owes Lloyds Bank more than £52,500 and a secretarial company more than £33,000.
The company’s Statement of Affairs said it expected there to be a “total deficiency” of £199,763.71.
James got the backing of Lord Sugar for Right Time, which specialised in recruitment within the IT and consultancy industries.
But in 2020 Lord Sugar quit his role as joint shareholder – leaving James as the sole owner and boss.
Last month, Companies House issued a compulsory strike-off order for the company – which at one point had offices in London, Birmingham and Chicago.
He set up a tax consultancy business called Mileage Reclaim Limited in 2020 which is owed £100,000 of cash from his recruitment firm.
Former PR worker Jade split with her boyfriend of three years after her fling with James.
Writing about it in 2017, she said: “As the weeks progressed, the different friendship groups became clearer and it was apparent that James and I had a lot in common.
“We were both competitive, into our fitness and I think we just had a genuine connection and felt that we could rely on each other in the house.
“We used to go outside and play bat and ball and stay up talking about how the world has no limits. It was inspiring to be around someone else who had as much ambition and vision in life as I do.”
