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A townhouse in London’s Belgravia owned by a company linked to the husband of Tory peer Baroness Michelle Mone is on sale for £25mn, weeks after the lingerie tycoon admitted lying over her role regarding a medical equipment company that won more than £200mn of UK state contracts during the pandemic.
The six-bedroom home in one of London’s most expensive residential neighbourhoods is owned by an Isle of Man company that is part of the Knox group of companies, founded and chaired by Mone’s husband, Douglas Barrowman.
The property at 4 Chester Square was acquired in late 2020 for £9.25mn. Knox group told the Financial Times in December 2022 that it was purchased as an investment and that the company planned to sell the house after a refurbishment. Knox said at the time the acquisition was funded “using group internal resources and external banking facilities”.
The house has now been advertised for sale, with agents seeking a discreet “off market” transaction according to a document seen by the FT and two people familiar with the matter.
The sales brochure describes the 6,000 sq ft residence as a “meticulously designed and elegant family home . . . one of the most distinguished and desired residences in Belgravia”. Its features include a sauna and steam room, and a purple-carpeted cinema room.
A spokesperson for Barrowman confirmed to The Times in December that another house in Belgravia had been sold. The newspaper reported it fetched £19mn, less than the original £23mn asking price. Barrowman is preparing to take delivery of a £50mn yacht, the Daily Mail reported, after selling one smaller yacht and putting a third up for sale.
The registered owner of the Chester Square house is Chester Ventures, according to UK land records. Chester Ventures’ beneficial owner is identified in Companies House records as Knox House Trustees (UK) Limited.
Knox Group and Mone did not reply to requests for comment.
Mone became embroiled in a bitter row with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month after she admitted in an interview that she had lied to the media about her involvement with PPE Medpro, which sold personal protective equipment to the government from May 2020.
Mone, who was made a Conservative peer by Lord David Cameron in 2015, told the BBC in December that she approached Michael Gove, then minister for the Cabinet Office, offering PPE Medpro’s services in 2020. The bid was placed in a “high-priority lane” after her intervention.
In the same interview, Mone and Barrowman admitted they both stood to gain from profits of about £60mn made by the company.
Over several years spokespeople and lawyers for Mone denied she had any involvement with PPE Medpro, as did people representing Barrowman. PPE Medpro did not respond to a request for comment.
The UK government launched legal proceedings against PPE Medpro in December 2022, claiming breach of contract over the quality of £122mn worth of protective gowns provided by the company. PPE Medpro has denied that the goods were faulty.