PPE Medpro Ordered to Repay £121 Million Over Unfit Gowns in High Court Ruling
LONDON – A British High Court judge has ordered PPE Medpro, a company significantly linked to Conservative peer and lingerie tycoon Michelle Mone, to repay the government over £121 million ($163 million) for breaching a contract to supply 25 million surgical gowns during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The ruling, delivered by Justice Sara Cockerill on Wednesday, marks a significant moment in the ongoing scandal surrounding hastily awarded PPE contracts.
The Verdict: Gowns Deemed Unsterile and Unfit for Purpose
Justice Cockerill’s comprehensive 87-page judgment found that PPE Medpro “breached the contract” because the gowns, manufactured in China, were “not, contractually speaking, sterile, or properly validated as being sterile.” Consequently, these vital pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) “could not be used as sterile gowns,” rendering them unfit for purpose in the state-run National Health Service (NHS). The Department of Health and Social Care is now “entitled to the price of the gowns as damages.”
The Genesis of PPE Medpro and the ‘VIP Lane’
PPE Medpro was swiftly established in the spring of 2020 as the pandemic gripped the UK. It was a consortium led by Doug Barrowman, the husband of Baroness Mone, who amassed her fortune through the Ultimo lingerie brand. The company secured lucrative government contracts after Mone personally recommended it to ministers, leveraging her position as a member of the House of Lords, Parliament’s unelected revising chamber. This referral led to the firm being granted access to a controversial “VIP Lane” for procurement, where preferential treatment was given to companies recommended by politicians, bypassing standard vetting processes.
A Symbol of Pandemic Procurement Failures
The case has become a symbol of the hundreds of millions of pounds potentially wasted through emergency procurement measures during the pandemic. None of the 25 million gowns supplied by PPE Medpro were ever utilized by the NHS due to their sterility issues.
Government’s Stance and Future Hurdles
The current Labour government, which took power in July 2024, initiated legal action against PPE Medpro, alleging a breach of contract over the “faulty” and non-sterile gowns. Treasury chief Rachel Reeves welcomed the High Court’s decision, emphasizing the government’s commitment to recovering public funds. “We want our money back,” Reeves stated, “We are getting our money back.” The recouped funds are earmarked to bolster public services.
However, the path to repayment faces immediate complications. PPE Medpro has declared its intention to enter administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, which would involve an insolvency practitioner managing its debts.
Mone and Barrowman’s Vehement Rebuttal
Both Baroness Mone and Mr. Barrowman vehemently denied any wrongdoing and expressed fury at the judgment. Mone described the ruling as “shocking but all too predictable” and “nothing less than an establishment win for the government in a case that was too big for them to lose.” Barrowman echoed her sentiments, branding it a “travesty of justice” and “a whitewash of the facts.”
The Lingering Shadow of Controversy and Calls for Accountability
Baroness Mone has been embroiled in controversy over her links to PPE Medpro for years. Initially denying any connection, she later admitted by the end of 2023 to “repeatedly lying” about her involvement and expressed regret for threatening legal action against journalists who reported her ties to the firm. Appointed to the House of Lords in 2015 by then-Prime Minister David Cameron, Mone has since taken a leave of absence from Parliament to “clear her name” amidst the scandal.
The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice U.K. campaigning group has called for Baroness Mone’s peerage to be revoked in light of the High Court’s decision, asserting that “Nobody who had any part to play in the PPE scandal, which cost lives, should have any role in public life.” While Parliament holds the power to remove a title, Mone also retains the option to resign from the House of Lords. The ruling intensifies the pressure on all involved in the controversial pandemic procurement practices.
