Baroness Michelle Mone and her businessman husband Doug Barrowman are among individuals being sued by the joint liquidators of PPE Medpro in an effort to recover funds owed to the UK government, according to a BBC report. The government was awarded £122m plus interest from PPE Medpro last year after the High Court ruled the firm had breached a contract to supply sterile surgical gowns during the Covid-19 pandemic. The joint liquidators from Interpath Advisory have launched a case against six individuals and five companies linked with the firm, after PPE Medpro was put into liquidation.
Legal Action and Recovery Efforts
The lawsuit, first reported by tax expert Dan Neidle, targets four former directors of PPE Medpro in addition to Mone and Barrowman. One of those directors is Arthur Lancaster, an accountant who is a business associate of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Lancaster has been approached for comment. Mone and Barrowman have also been approached for comment.
PPE Medpro was set up in 2020 during the acute phase of the pandemic when the government struggled to secure protective equipment for health workers. It won its first government contract to supply masks through a so-called 'VIP lane' after a recommendation by Baroness Mone, who sat in the House of Lords as a Conservative peer. However, by the end of 2022, the government sued the firm, claiming the medical gowns supplied did not comply with relevant healthcare standards. Last year the High Court found in the government's favour, ruling that PPE Medpro had failed to prove whether or not its surgical gowns, intended for NHS workers, had undergone a validated sterilisation process.
Financial and Criminal Investigations
While the government won its case, it was not immediately clear how it would recover the money. The company itself had less than £1m on its balance sheet and was put into liquidation in December 2025. The then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting accused PPE Medpro of putting "NHS staff and patients in danger with substandard kit whilst lining their own pockets with taxpayers' money at a time of national crisis" and pledged to pursue the company with "everything we've got" to recover the money.
| Claim / Award | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Government judgment against PPE Medpro | £122m + interest | High Court ruling |
| HMRC tax claim against PPE Medpro | £39m | HMRC |
| PPE Medpro balance sheet at liquidation | Less than £1m | BBC |
Barrowman and Mone were not directors of PPE Medpro, and for a long time they denied any connection with the firm. However, in 2023 Barrowman confirmed in a BBC interview that he was the ultimate beneficial owner of the company. In the same interview, Mone admitted that she was a beneficiary of a trust which had received some of the profits from PPE Medpro.
The Department for Health and Social Care stated that the recovery of funds is a job for the appointed liquidators and that it would not be appropriate for ministers to intervene, but that the government had been clear that it expects robust action to be taken. Interpath declined to comment. The National Crime Agency is also conducting a separate, criminal investigation into PPE Medpro.
The news underscores the complex legal and financial landscape surrounding pandemic-era procurement contracts. For import/export professionals and trade policy analysts, the case highlights the risks of non-compliance with health standards and the potential for post-contract litigation and recovery actions, even years after the initial transaction. The involvement of liquidators, multiple defendants, and a parallel criminal probe illustrates the multi-faceted enforcement mechanisms available to governments in trade disputes.
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