Company documents reveal that PPE Medpro, the firm linked to former Conservative peer Michelle Mone and found to have supplied unusable personal protective equipment, owes £39m in unpaid taxes to HMRC. The company, owned by Mone’s husband Doug Barrowman, entered administration on 30 September, the day before a High Court judgment that it must repay £122m for breaching a contract to supply sterile surgical gowns during the pandemic.
The statement from administrators Forvis Mazars, filed at Companies House, lists total debts of £188m. This includes £148m owed to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) after interest, £39m to HMRC, £207,000 to legal firm Grosvenor Law, and £1m to an Isle of Man entity linked to Barrowman. The nature of the unpaid tax is not specified, but the document states no money is owed for PAYE, national insurance, or VAT, suggesting it is corporation tax on profits.
The administrators noted that a review of bank statements indicated a small number of entities received the vast majority of funds from the company. No explanation has been given for where the profits went. The DHSC awarded PPE Medpro contracts worth a total of £203m for gowns and face masks after Mone approached then-Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove in May 2020, processed via the VIP lane for politically connected individuals.
Following the judgment, Health Secretary Wes Streeting vowed to pursue the company to recover funds for the NHS. However, with no funds left in the company and it being in administration, the government faces legal hurdles. The administrators indicated they may recover money through legal claims against unnamed third parties.
