PPE Medpro must repay £122m after court rules gowns not sterile

A company linked to Baroness Michelle Mone failed to pay almost £122 million to the UK government by a 4pm deadline on 15 October after a High Court found it breached a contract to supply surgical gowns during the Covid-19 pandemic, government officials said. The Department of Health and Social Care secured a judgment ordering PPE Medpro to repay £121,999,219.20 after a judge concluded the gowns were not contractually sterile and therefore could not be used in the NHS.

Mrs Justice Cockerill’s ruling, handed down earlier this month, found the gowns were not properly validated as sterile. The department says interest running on the sum since the gowns were rejected in late 2020 now totals about £23.7 million, bringing the amount owed to roughly £145.6 million. The DHSC said interest will continue to accrue at an annual rate of 8 percent from the day after the repayment deadline.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded after the deadline passed, saying PPE Medpro had failed to meet its obligation and that the government would pursue repayment. He said, "At a time of national crisis, PPE Medpro sold the previous government substandard kit and pocketed taxpayers hard‑earned cash. We...