AN ENTREPRENEUR from Worcestershire who impressed on the Dragons’ Den has said “he’s out” – of business.

Adam Weaver walked away with £50,000 for his Pershore-based car accessories firm after an impressive pitch on the BBC show last year.

But the 31-year-old has been forced to put Proppa.com into liquidation, blaming a lack of Japanese truck imports caused by the country’s devastating earthquake in March. About 20 staff have lost their jobs.

Mr Weaver refused to comment on whether or not he received the proposed backing from leisure centre tycoon Duncan Bannatyne, who pledged £50,000 for a 20 per cent stake in the business.

Mr Weaver said a large proportion of the stock at his warehouse in Racecourse Road is hard-top cases for Japanese pick-up trucks worth about £1,000 each.

He said: “Amazingly we have been very badly affected by what has happened in Japan.

“We had an outstanding month in March. But then the import timescale of vehicles from Japan went from four to six weeks to 26 weeks. I couldn’t predict an earthquake.”

He said April, June and July were terrible months for the business and August is notoriously slow. The rates and rent for his 25,000 sq ft warehouse, which is currently baracaded shut with concrete posts, are about £145,000 a year.

The married dad-of-two added: “We were going to run out of money. I tried to do the right thing. I have worked my hardest to try and save the business.

“I tried to off load a lot of stock to one of our biggest customers but they simply haven’t got the vehicles to put them on.

“The hard tops only have one use – unless you turn it upside down and use it as a pond.”

Mr Weaver said it was very sad breaking the news to his staff who he said had been “fantastic”.

He said: “I have always been a very open manager. They knew when times were difficult. I want to work with the liquidators and do the best by the people I owe money. I want to make sure we maximise the value of the existing stock to pay off creditors.

“When staff found out they were very sad because they loved the company and the people they were working with.

“Hopefully they will go away, maybe start their own businesses and be successful.”

• Watch Mr Weaver's pitch to the Dragons again here.