A company linked to Conservative peer Baroness Michelle Mone should repay over £121 million for allegedly supplying faulty surgical gowns during the COVID-19 pandemic, the High Court has heard.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has brought a legal claim against PPE Medpro, a firm led by Baroness Mone’s husband, businessman Doug Barrowman, accusing the company of breaching its contract to supply 25 million gowns.
Government lawyers argue that the gowns were not sterile — a critical requirement under the deal.
The disputed contract, worth £121,999,219, was awarded during the early months of the pandemic, following a direct referral to ministers by Baroness Mone.
The government is also seeking an additional £8.6 million to cover transport and storage costs, with the gowns still languishing in UK warehouses after being rejected in December 2020.
Opening the case, government barrister Paul Stanley KC told the court: “This is a technical case about whether the gowns met legal and industry standards for sterility.”
He stated that testing later revealed 103 out of 140 gowns were contaminated, adding: “Whatever sterilisation process was attempted, it failed.”
Under the contract, 99.9999% of the gowns were expected to be sterile — the equivalent of just one in a million being faulty. Yet the government contends that no validated sterilisation process was followed, and the gowns bore invalid CE markings, which are supposed to confirm compliance with European medical standards.
Stanley confirmed that although Baroness Mone was “active throughout” negotiations, her involvement is not central to the case. “We are not alleging any impropriety or questioning any profits made,” he said, adding that the case was strictly about compliance with product standards.
PPE Medpro denies all wrongdoing. In response, the company’s lawyer Charles Samek KC claimed the government was engaging in a “contrived and opportunistic” legal battle, blaming PPE Medpro for its own procurement failings. “This is a textbook case of buyer’s remorse,” he told the court. “The DHSC is sitting on more than £8 billion of unused PPE due to a chaotic buying spree funded by taxpayers.”
Samek further argued that the gowns may have been contaminated after delivery, during government handling and storage — not because they were defective at the point of manufacture. He also criticised the sample testing, saying it was carried out months later and was not representative.
While Baroness Mone and Doug Barrowman remain at the centre of public scrutiny, neither is expected to give evidence, and Mone did not attend the opening day of the trial. A spokesperson for PPE Medpro stated that the company “categorically denies breaching its obligations” and will “robustly defend” itself against the DHSC’s claim.
The trial, presided over by Mrs Justice Cockerill, is scheduled to run for five weeks. A written judgment is expected later.
