Firm linked to husband of Michelle Mone lavishes £10m on townhouse

Firm linked to husband of ‘Baroness Bra’ Michelle Mone lavishes £10m on Belgravia townhouse

• Douglas Barrowman’s company Chester Ventures is part of the Knox group 
• Land Registry documents show £9.2million was spent on the lavish house
• The property was bought as an investment and will be sold after it is refurbished

A company linked to Michelle Mone’s husband paid nearly £10million for a townhouse months after a medical goods supplier with connections to the pair won more than £200million in government contracts.

The property in Belgravia – one of London’s most exclusive areas – was bought in December 2020 by Chester Ventures weeks after it was incorporated.

While not owned personally by the couple, Land Registry documents show £9.2million was spent on the house by Chester Ventures – part of the Knox group founded by the lingerie tycoon’s husband Douglas Barrowman.

A spokesman for the Knox group told the Financial Times: ‘Chester Ventures is a property development company within the group.

A company linked to Michelle Mone’s husband (both pictured) paid nearly £10million for a townhouse months after a medical goods supplier with connections to the pair won more than £200million in government contracts

‘[The house] was purchased in 2020 for redevelopment using group internal resources and external banking facilities.’

The property was bought as an investment and will be sold after it is refurbished, the spokesman added. News of the sale comes as the Tory peer, nicknamed Baroness Bra, is facing intense scrutiny for her alleged profiting from pandemic contracts.

Leaked documents show she and her children received as much as £29million after a company called PPE Medpro was referred for contracts to supply masks and gowns.

The firm was awarded £203million in two contracts after Baroness Mone recommended it to ministers at the beginning of the pandemic.

PPE Medpro is now being sued by the Government for breaching the terms of a £122million contract to supply 25million surgical gowns for medical staff.

The company said it would defend the civil lawsuit and the Department for Health had ‘vastly over-ordered’ PPE. But according to documents seen by the Financial Times, Mr Barrowman – who denies any wrongdoing – received £65million in profits from PPE Medpro.

Chester Ventures bought the Belgravia townhouse six months after PPE Medpro was awarded its contracts.

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