Bra firm pulls out
Underwear company which made Tory peer Mone’s fortune will cease trading in UK
THE underwear firm set up by Michelle Mone is to stop trading after racking up heavy losses. Ultimo’s owners are winding up their UK business after an “extremely challenging” few years. Staff at Ultimo’s headquarters in East Kilbride have been told and 11 workers are in discussions with bosses over redundancy. Mone, 46, now known as Baroness Mone of Mayfair, set up the business –whose models have included Penny Lancaster and Rachel Hunter – in 1996 with her then husband Michael. He left the company in 2013 after they divorced.
Mone tweeted: “It’s very sad to see that Ultimo – the brand I created 21 years ago – is closing down.
“I turned Ultimo into a global success story and I am immensely proud of what we achieved.
“I sold Ultimo and left the company four years ago. I may comment further when the time is right.”
Glasgow-born Mone sold a majority stake in Ultimo to Sri Lankan firm MAS Holdings in 2014.
A year later, the then prime minister David Cameron made her his business tsar and a Tory peer. Mone then stepped down as a director of Ultimo.
Records show she still owns 200 shares in the business, which saw losses balloon from £1.8million 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 over the last 18 months.”
The firm said all suppliers would be paid and customers’ rights were not affected.