New boss of Mone-linked PPE firm was censured in tax probe

Michelle Mone was made a Conservative life peer in 2015

The new boss of a PPE firm linked to Tory peer Baroness Mone was censured as part of a tax investigation last year.

Arthur Lancaster's appointment as director raises fresh questions about the roles of Michelle Mone and her husband Doug Barrowman in PPE Medpro.

The couple have denied involvement in the company winning government contracts during the Covid pandemic.

It is being sued by the government for £122m plus costs for "breach of contract and unjust enrichment".

Whitehall officials claim millions of hospital gowns the firm supplied during the pandemic cannot be used in the NHS.

PPE Medpro has said it will "rigorously" defend itself against the government's claim.

The firm is now being run by Mr Lancaster, a long-time business partner of Mr Barrowman.

Last year a company he led, AML Tax (UK) Limited, was fined £150,000 by a tax tribunal.

HMRC, the UK's tax authority, said the firm was part of Mr Barrowman's Isle of Man-based Knox Group, and accused it of "aggressively" promoting tax avoidance schemes in the UK.

The tribunal found the company had failed to comply with formal information notices as part of HMRC's investigation.

It described Mr Lancaster's evidence as "evasive" and said he displayed "a lack of candour".

PPE contracts

Mystery has surrounded PPE Medpro's backers ever since it was awarded contracts worth more than £200m in the summer of 2020 to supply the government with personal protective equipment (PPE).

In November 2021, the government revealed Baroness Mone had been the "source of referral" for PPE Medpro getting a place on the so-called VIP lane for PPE offers coming from ministers, officials or peers.

In other words, she recommended the company.

A year earlier, lawyers for Baroness Mone had said she "had no role or function in PPE Medpro, nor in the process by which contracts were awarded to PPE Medpro".

They also said Mr Barrowman was "not a director or shareholder in PPE Medpro and had no role in the award of any contracts to PPE Medpro".

But when the BBC asked PPE Medpro about Mr Lancaster's appointment in May 2023, the company sent a statement via Mr Barrowman's private office.

The statement from a PPE Medpro spokesperson said: "Arthur Lancaster has been appointed as a director of PPE Medpro to oversee the resolution of a contractual dispute and the administration of the company until the dispute is resolved.

"Mr Lancaster has not previously had any role or involvement with PPE Medpro."

NCA investigation

The company is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

The NCA opened a case in May 2021 into suspected criminal offences committed in the procurement of PPE contracts by PPE Medpro.

PPE Medpro's previous director and sole shareholder, Anthony Page, resigned in May.

But as part of its legal case, the government has filed documents with the High Court that say officials understood the firm was backed by a consortium of business people.

Tom Keatinge, director of the Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies said: "Where there are connections between individuals - be they business associates, family members or childhood friends - investigators are likely to pay close attention to the extent to which the benefit of company ownership accrues to the named owner or someone close to them."

Baroness Mone was made a Conservative life peer in 2015. She has been on a leave of absence from the House of Lords since late last year.

She is being investigated by the House of Lords commissioner for standards, and has said she wants to clear her name.

Baroness Mone has been contacted for a comment.