Government to pursue PPE firm linked to Michelle Mone 'with everything we've got', Wes Streeting vows
PPE Medpro failed to meet a deadline to repay the government almost £122million
The Government will pursue a company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone with "everything" it's got after it missed a deadline to pay it back millions of pounds, Wes Streeting has said.
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PPE Medpro, the company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone, has not met the deadline to pay back almost £122 million to the Government, the Health Secretary has said.
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) successfully sued PPE Medpro, a consortium led by Lady Mone's husband Doug Barrowman, earlier this year over claims it breached a deal for 25 million surgical gowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Lady Justice Cockerill ruled earlier this month that the company had breached the contract as the gowns were not sterile, and ordered it to pay back £121,999,219.20 by 4pm on Wednesday 15 October.
After the deadline passed, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said that PPE Medpro "has failed to meet the deadline to pay" and that interest on the sum was "now accruing daily".
It is understood that amount is being charged at a rate of 8%.
The Health Secretary criticised the Mone's firm further: "At a time of national crisis, PPE Medpro sold the previous government substandard kit and pocketed taxpayers' hard-earned cash."
He continued: "We will pursue PPE Medpro with everything we've got to get these funds back where they belong - in our NHS."
An application to put the company into administration was lodged earlier late last month, with PPE Medpro having just £666,000 in assets.