For the first time, Michelle Mone, a Conservative peer, has admitted that she was involved with a business that received £200 million in government PPE contracts during the Covid epidemic.
Douglas Barrowman, the spouse of Lady Mone, has also admitted for the first time that he had a role in PPE Medpro.
According to a Barrowman representative who spoke to the Guardian, the businessman from the Isle of Man invested in PPE Medpro and oversaw the operation's supply of personal protective equipment.
Concerns over the couple's years-long denials are raised by their admissions. Through solicitors, Mone and Barrowman have up until now steadfastly denied to the Guardian that they had any involvement with the business.
Mone’s lawyer wrote to the Guardian in February 2022: “You [the Guardian] have now been placed on notice on numerous occasions of our client’s position in relation to PPE Medpro. She has no involvement in the business … She has never had any role or function in PPE Medpro, nor in the process by which contracts were awarded to PPE Medpro.”
But what was the controversial PPE VIP fast lane?
What was the PPE VIP fast lane?
Due to exorbitant prices and equipment that did not meet regulations, the Department of Health and Social Care lost 75 per cent of the £12 billion it spent on personal protective equipment (PPE) in the first year of the pandemic. This included £4 billion of PPE that could not be used in the NHS and had to be disposed of.
PPE Medpro, one of the providers of personal protective equipment to the government, is being sued by the government for £122 million plus costs.
Following Baroness Mone's recommendation, PPE Medpro secured contracts in 2020 through the so-called VIP lane. Offers made outside this route were 10 times less likely to result in contracts and were not given the same priority as those made in the VIP lane.
In the high court, the government is seeking reimbursement for one of the transactions, arguing that the medical gowns that were provided "did not comply with the specification in the contract".
In the statement published by the Guardian, the firm said: “DHSC’s cynical attempt to recover money from suppliers like PPE Medpro, who acted in good faith and to contract specifications, will be found out through the civil court process … The case will also show the utter incompetence of DHSC to correctly procure and specify PPE during the emergency procurement period.”
In addition to the £122 million contract, the government claims that it has already paid £6.9 million for equipment storage and that the cost of storing the gowns each week exceeds £61,000. The estimated cost of getting rid of the garments is £4.7 million.
What companies were involved?
According to the representative, PPE Medpro and two other businesses that assisted in procuring the PPE – Loudwater Trade and Finance, based in London, and Eric Beare Associates, a Hong Kong-based business – formed the consortium.
Where did the PPE money go?
Profits for PPE Medpro and associates reached up to £100 million and at least £70 million was moved abroad from PPE Medpro contracts, according to a Guardian analysis.
According to the Independent, a total of £29 million from the many contracts given to those companies ended up in an offshore HSBC trust fund, from which Mone and her children benefited.
What has Michelle Mone said?
Before the PPE contracts were awarded, Barrowman and Lady Mone fully disclosed their involvement to the Cabinet Office in writing.
Lawyers for the couple have previously denied any “role or function” in the business.
This was until recently when the couple's agent, who claimed to have Mone and Barrowman's consent to answer inquiries on their behalf, released a statement that markedly differs from those denials.
In response to inquiries from the Guardian, the representative – who also serves as a spokeswoman for PPE Medpro – made the disclosures.
The spokesperson stated: “The UK government was fully aware of Baroness Mone’s involvement; like many other peers and MPs on the high priority lane, she acted as an intermediary/liaison between PPE Medpro and the Cabinet Office/Department of Health and Social Care.”
