Under-fire ‘Start-up Tsar’ Monequitsbrafirmboard
Company says founder left role earlier this month
SCOTTISH entrepreneur Michelle Mone has resigned from the board of the firm she founded and which made her a multi-millionaire and shot her to national prominence.
Bra, lingerie and swimwear firm Ultimo revealed that Ms Mone left its board and the board of parent group MJM International earlier this month.
The 43-year-old, who grew up in the East End of Glasgow, was appointed by the Department for Work and Pensions to carry out a review of support available for people from less advantaged areas to
Ultimo wishes Michelle every success in her new personal projects
start up their own businesses earlier this month. It was also reported this month that Ms Mone is being lined up to be Conservative member of the House of Lords.
The lingerie firm said: “As such, Michelle will spend most of her time on these new projects and commitments, leaving limited time for her engagements with Ultimo.”
It added: “Ultimo wishes Michelle every success in her new personal projects and public engagements, and thanks her for contributions in the past and for her future support of Ultimo’s growth.”
Ms Mone co-founded Ultimo, marketing a range of “cleavage-enhancing” bras, in 1996 with her then husband Michael.
Following a protracted divorce, her husband left the company in 2013, and a year later Ms Mone sold 80 per cent of the business to Sri Lanka-based lingerie group MAS Holdings.
Ms Mone has a high profile in the media and has appeared on TV shows such as The Apprentice, Celebrity Masterchef and Surprise Surprise. She also owns stakes in a tanning firm and slimming business and is a motivational speaker.
Meanwhile, as reported in later editions of last night’s Evening Times, Ms Mone is facing further questions over becoming the UK Government’s start-up tsar after she was accused of exploiting people who want to lose weight by selling “useless” slimming pills.
The entrepreneur helped establish TrimSecrets, which sells slimming tablets alongside diet and exercise advice, in 2006.
Ms Mone said TrimSecrets, set up with figures including the late homeopathy expert Jan de Vries, helped her shed more than six stone in 18 months.
However, nutrition experts said that nothing in the supplements had been scientifically proven to help with weight loss.
Accounts filed by TrimSecrets show that the firm made a loss in the last four years for which accounts are available.
Professor Mike Lean, chairman of Human Nutrition at Glasgow University, said: “There is nothing in the ingredients of these pills which would have any effect on people’s weight.
“If people have lost weight while taking TrimSecrets’ pills, it is because they have been eating less calories than they are using.”