Summary
A UK company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone, PPE Medpro, has been liquidated and is unlikely to repay the £148 million it owes to the government for faulty personal protective equipment (PPE). The company, managed by Mone's husband, Douglas Barrowman, breached a contract to supply surgical gowns during the COVID-19 pandemic and has very little money left to pay back creditors.
Key Facts
- PPE Medpro was linked to Baroness Michelle Mone and run by her husband, Douglas Barrowman.
- The company breached a contract to supply 25 million surgical gowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- PPE Medpro owed the UK government £148 million for faulty PPE and also owed £39 million in taxes to HM Revenue & Customs.
- The company was liquidated after a High Court ruling, indicating it was insolvent and unlikely to repay the debts.
- Judge Sebastian Prentis stated that the debt came from supplying defective equipment during a national crisis.
- Health Secretary Wes Streeting has vowed to recover taxpayer money from PPE Medpro.
- PPE Medpro received government contracts through a fast-tracked approval process, but the equipment was not proven to be properly sterilized.
- An official from the UK government's insolvency service will investigate the company's failure and the conduct of its directors.
