High court hears £122m claim against PPE Medpro, linked to Michelle Mone’s controversial Covid deals

The government’s £122m legal battle with PPE Medpro, a company linked to Conservative peer Michelle Mone, began at the High Court on Wednesday. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is seeking to claw back funds it paid for protective gowns that were never used during the Covid pandemic.

In December 2022, the DHSC filed its lawsuit, accusing PPE Medpro of supplying 25 million sterile surgical gowns that were ultimately rejected. The gowns formed part of two lucrative Covid contracts totalling more than £200m, both fast-tracked through the government’s controversial “VIP lane”, reserved for suppliers with political connections.

Baroness Mone, who founded lingerie firm Ultimo, used her political connections to recommend PPE Medpro to ministers at the height of the pandemic. She had been appointed to the House of Lords by former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015.

Initially, Mone and her husband, Isle of Man businessman Doug Barrowman, denied any involvement in PPE Medpro. But a series of Guardian investigations in 2022 exposed their hidden ties to the company. The reports revealed that Mone had approached then-Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove to secure the contracts.

In November 2022, leaked HSBC documents showed that Barrowman received at least £65m from PPE Medpro’s profits. He later transferred £29m into an offshore trust, listing Mone and her three adult children as beneficiaries. A year later, the couple publicly admitted their involvement, with Mone confessing to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that she had lied to the media. Barrowman confirmed he had profited by over £60m and had distributed funds to his family.

While PPE Medpro has insisted its products helped protect NHS workers, only the supplied face masks were accepted for use. The disputed gowns failed DHSC inspections and were never deployed in hospitals.

The DHSC claims the gowns posed safety risks as they were not sterile, carried invalid technical labelling, and were entirely unsuitable for NHS use. The department now seeks repayment of the full £122m, an additional £11m in storage and disposal costs, plus interest.

PPE Medpro continues to reject the allegations. Ahead of the High Court hearing, a spokesperson stated: “PPE Medpro categorically denies breaching its obligations to DHSC in the supply of sterile surgical gowns during the Covid pandemic and it will robustly defend these claims in court.”

The DHSC declined to comment, citing the ongoing legal proceedings.

This High Court case runs alongside a lengthy criminal investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA), which is examining potential criminal offences committed during the PPE procurement process. In April 2022, the NCA executed search warrants at the couple’s properties. By January 2024, the Crown Prosecution Service secured a court order freezing £75m of their assets. Mone and Barrowman did not challenge the asset freeze but have denied any criminal wrongdoing.

The PPE Medpro controversy has become one of the most high-profile scandals linked to the government’s Covid response and its use of the politically charged VIP lane. The outcome of both the High Court case and the NCA investigation may carry far-reaching implications for accountability over pandemic procurement practices.