David Leask and Scott Wright
The lingerie firm set up by Tory business czar Michelle Mone has posted big losses as she prepares to be introduced to the House of Lords tomorrow.
The latest accounts for Ultimo Brands show a retained loss of £388,000 for 2014 when she was both a director and a substantial shareholder.
Losses rose sharply from £48,673 in 2013. The company listed assets of about £5.4 million of which some £4.2m was described as “Goodwill”, an intangible asset such as the value of a brand.
Ultimo Brands is the new holding company for the now-dormant MJM International she set up with her then husband Michael Mone.
Tomorrow, Baroness Mone of Mayfair will swear the oath of allegiance in the House of Lords.
Senior Scottish business figures have cast doubts on Baroness Mone’s commercial acumen after a series of poor results for her Ultimo business in various guises.
Baroness Mone announced in November last year that she had sold 80 per cent of the holding firm to her Sri Lankan business partners, MAS Holdings.
In the summer she ended her relationship with her business Ultimo, which was best known for its push-up bras.
Background: Is Michelle Mone the Right Person to help poor Britons start up businesses
Baroness Mone’s spokesman moved to distance the peer from the latest losses, despite the fact that they pre-date her departure from Ultimo.
In a statement, he said: “Michelle has no involvement in Ultimo either as a shareholder or as a director.
“She has not seen any financial statements or reports and would not expect to have done for a business which is owned and run by others.”
The Herald asked the Department for Work and Pensions, which is championing her Mone Review to boost enterprise in deprived communities, whether Baroness Mone was still regarded as qualified for this job.
A spokesman responded: “Michelle Mone’s business success is well documented.
“She is more than qualified to help entrepreneurs from deprived backgrounds to turn a good idea into a flourishing business.”
Asked for information on where Baroness Mone’s business success had been well-documented, the spokesman made no further comment. The Tory peer has other small businesses, including a loss-making firm providing controversial diet pills, and does inspirational speaking.
She recently sold her Glasgow home, which was mortgaged, and is based in London full time.
The Ultimo Brands accounts were published by Companies House.
Here is an excerpt:
As a small firm, the company only publishes abbreviated accounts, so it is not clear why its retained losses have risen from £48,673 in 2013 to £388,191 in 2014.
MJM International, now a fully owned subsidiary of Ultimo Brands, is described in the accounts as a dormant company with a retained loss of £651,678. This represents an improvement from a retained loss of £780,550 the previous year.
In August Baroness Mone announced on Twitter the end of her relationship with Ultimo Brands and MJM.
The end of an era........ pic.twitter.com/BRE8l1eqyJ
— Lady Michelle Mone (@MichelleMone) August 18, 2015 ">http://
The end of an era........ pic.twitter.com/BRE8l1eqyJ
— Lady Michelle Mone (@MichelleMone) August 18, 2015
Last week she defended herself from Scottish business critics, whom she has previously accused of being motivated to criticise her politics.
She told a magazine she would not have been allowed in to the Lords without the necessary checks.
She added: “I never, ever, will lose. If I have to work 10 times harder and put in more work than that person I will get past the finish line before them. And that’s the way I have always been.”
Meanwhile, Baroness Mone became embroiled in further controversy on Twitter after saying she loved having obsessive compulsive disorder.
Yesterday, speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she suggested the condition had helped her career. She said: “It can prove really useful in business. It makes you really organised. I’ve always said that if your drawers are organised, then your life will be too.
“So I love having OCD.”
Sufferers took her to task on social media. One viewer said: “I have OCD & really don’t think Michelle Mone does.
“It is much more serious than she is making out. She is making light of it.”
Baroness Mone countered with her own tweet. She said: “There are different degrees of OCD. I have a mild version of it and have had to adjust. Don’t forget it is a real illness for others who suffer.
The Herald View: Michelle Mone and the public interest
ULTIMO TIMELINE:
1996 –MJM International launched by Michelle and Michael Mone
1999 – MJM introduces Ultimo brand, which would be modelled by celebrities including Rachel Hunter and Penny Lancaster
2008 – company books its best ever profits performance, £919,012 before tax in the year ended April 30, 2008
2010 – turnover peaks at £10.2 million in year ended April 30, 2010.
2012 – marriage of Michael and Michelle Mone breaks down
2013 – Accounts filed at Companies House reveal extent of marital breakdown on company’s performance. MJM reports pre-tax loss of £547,018 in the 18 months to October 31, 2012. Warns that marital break-up will continue to hit profitability in 2013.
It emerges that Ms Mone had a struck deal that gave MAS 51 per cent of MJM International in February 2013, while increasing her stake to 49 per cent from 47 per cent. Deal severed Mr Mone’s links with MJM.
2014 – assets of MJM International transferred to Ultimo Brands International after company posted retained loss of £780,550 in the 11 months to December 31, 2013 - its final year of trading.
2015 – Named by David Cameron as UK Government entrepreneurship tsar having reduced her stake in Ultimo to 20 per cent. Resigns as a director of Ultimo and MJM and states she no longer holds stake in businesses.
How this story looks in today's print edition of The Herald:
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel