Bra firm goes bust
Ultimo, lingerie brand which made entrepreneur Michelle Mone’s fortune, is shutting
THE lingerie firm founded by bra tycoon Michelle Mone is to close after racking up heavy losses.
Ultimo’s owners are shutting the UK business after an “extremely challenging” few years, with the loss of 11 jobs.
Baroness Mone tweeted: “It’s very sad to see that Ultimo, the brand I created 21 years ago is closing down.
“I turned Ultimo in to a global success story and I am immensely proud of what we achieved.”
She set up the business with then husband Michael selling “cleavage enhancing” bras.
Since then models – including Penny Lancaster, Rachel Hunter and Abbey Clancy – have posed in the stylish lingerie.
Michael left the firm in 2013 after their divorce. Baroness Mone made millions before selling a majority stake to a Sri Lankan firm called MAS Holdings in 2014.
A year later Tory Prime Minister David Cameron made her his business tsar and a Conservative peer. She stepped down as a director of Ultimo.
The firm, based in East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, said all suppliers would be paid and customers’ rights were not affected. Records show its losses ballooned to £3.9million in 2016.
A spokesman said: “The last few years have been extremely challenging for Ultimo, driven by increasing competition in the market and more cautious consumer spending due to uncertainty surrounding the UK economy.”
Baroness Mone grew up in east Glasgow and left school at 15 to look after her disabled dad. She said: “I left school with a real fire in my belly, a determination and can-do attitude.”
But she sparked controversy last year by using the BBC to plug her boyfriend’s £250million Dubai property development, urging Breakfast viewers to buy flats using unregulated cryptocurrency Bitcoin.