Bianca Miller. Pic: BBC

An Apprentice runner-up has complained about lack of support for small business from Croydon council.

Talking to the the Croydon Advertiser, the 25 year old Apprentice runner-up, Bianca Miller, complained that, last September,  she had been forced out of the premises in Sydenham rd where she launched her personal development business ‘The Be Group” two years ago.

She said: “I would have liked more support from Croydon Council. We need to push things like employability in Croydon.”

Miller, who was part of the BBC show which ended at Christmas, was forced to move her company out of Croydon, with two weeks notice, after it was announced that her offices were to  be converted into flats. She has now moved the business to  Penge, Bromley.

The Be Group was founded in 2012 by Miller. The company aids people in many areas with regards to increasing employability, ranging from personal shopping and styling to skills training and personal branding.

Miller was only 23 when she started the business, which was named as one of the Startups 100 businesses of 2013.

The Apprentice finalist was born in Croydon and attended Beulah Junior School in Thornton Heath. After moving to Sydenham with her family, she continued her secondary school education before going to study Business Management and Economics at the University of Sussex.

The owners of Cygnet House, where Millers’ offices were located, AA Homes and Housing claimed all tenants had been informed via letter when they bought the building in February 2014 and were then asked to vacate within the terms of their contract.

A Croydon Council spokesman said: “We have already announced our intention to remove the permitted development right in areas such as this to give greater protection to office space and prevent any conversions to housing that don’t have planning permission.”

The Apprentice star wasn’t available to comment further on the move.