MICHELLE Mone has cloaked her business empire in secrecy by ending the need for her companies to file public accounts.
The Glasgow-born entrepreneur changed the status of MGM Media from a limited to an unlimited company last month, shortly before its deadline to lodge annual accounts.
The firm handles Lady Mone’s “brand” and income from publishing and speaking fees.
Unlimited companies are relatively rare, as their shareholders are liable for their entire debts on winding up.
However the extra risk is offset by one potential advantage - unlimited companies are not required to file accounts with Companies House.
Douglas Anderson, managing director of the Glasgow-based tool and plant hire company GAP Group, which employs 1300 people, last year urged David Cameron not to ennoble Ms Mone as her businesses were “over-promoted PR minnows”.
He said of the latest development: “If you have a business you should be proud of it, and if you’re proud of your business why would you have a problem lodging accounts?”
Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: “There is growing clamour for transparency from the corporate world. Someone who accepts a well-paid job as an unelected peer has some nerve deciding that their business affairs should be hidden from the public behind a veil of secrecy.”
Lady Mone, 44, converted her other business, Ubeauty Global, which promotes tanning cream, to an unlimited company in December, before it had filed any accounts.
The Ultimo bra inventor has been under increased scrutiny since being put in charge of a Westminster review of business start-ups and being made a Tory peer last August.
According to her register of interests at the House of Lords, MGM Media manages her “brand, TV work, speaking engagements, book publication, endorsements, mentoring etc” and receives "certain income" as a result.
It had previously filed one set of accounts, covering the period from its creation in May 2013 to April 30 2014, when it was described as “dormant” and had assets of just £20.
It had been due to file its 2014-15 accounts by January 31, but its conversion to an unlimited company means it no longer has to do so.
The application to change its status, date-marked January 16, was signed by Lady Mone.
In December, Lady Mone indicated she was taking legal action after the Daily Mail published a story alleging, among other things, that most of the staff at MGM Media had left their posts and her ventures were “struggling”.
Her spokesman said the reports were “100 per cent false” and that she had engaged the blue-chip London legal firm Harbottle and Lewis.
Lady Mone also declares a 20 per cent shareholding in lingerie company Ultimo Brands International Ltd, however she resigned as a director on August 4.
Her only current directorships are in Ubeauty Global and MGM Media, which she owns "100 per cent".
An SNP spokesperson said: “That an individual tasked with leading a UK Government business review is seemingly trying to avoid scrutiny of her business interests will inevitably lead to real questions about transparency around her role – and about the financial health or otherwise of the businesses themselves.”
According to the UK Government's Insolvency Service, unlimited companies are "a fairly rare type of corporation... as each member is jointly and severally liable for the debts of the company in the event of its winding-up".
However, subject to caveats which do not apply in the case of Ubeauty Global or MGM Media, "an unlimited company does not have to file accounts with the registrar of companies".
Lady Mone’s spokesman denied there was a conflict between her company arrangements and her government business role.
He said: "This is something that high-profile people do to ensure people like you [journalists] can’t get information about them. Her businesses are doing phenomenally well.
“People want to be a bit secret. It’s something that actors and actresses do. It’s something that business people do. It’s a common practice.
"She doesn’t want every single move she makes to be under the microscopic scrutiny of journalists.”
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