'CHELLE SHOCK

Law expert says chance of recouping £122m very remote'

- BY NORMAN SILVESTER

A COMPANY law expert says it is unlikely that the UK Government will ever recoup the £122million owed to it by a firm linked to Michelle Mone.

On Wednesday PPE Medpro missed a judge's deadline to repay the sum, which is due for faulty Covid surgical gowns and has risen with interest to more than £145million.

PPE Medpro - founded by Mone's husband Doug Barrowman - was ordered to hand over the sum after it lost a High Court battle over a £122million pandemic PPE contract.

The UK Government has since vowed to "chase down" every penny owed to the taxpayer by the firm.

But Ryan Macready of Glasgow-based law firm Dallas McMillan says the likelihood of recovering anything close to the £122million is "very remote".

PPE Medpro went into administration at the end of last month with assets of just £700,000.

Links were revealed with Mone, who referred the company to ministers through the Covid VIP lane in 2020.

In December 2023, Mone finally admitted she and her children could eventually benefit from the firm's profits of about £60million through a series of financial trusts where the money is held.