How we all played a part in the creation of Michelle Mone

Michelle Mone’s rise to fame should have had tougher scrutiny

Sometimes the past comes back to haunt you. I was about 20 minutes into watching the BBC’s new Michelle Mone documentary when a familiar figure appeared on screen.

More than 20 years ago I presented a series called “The Talent” focussing on prominent Scots. Each episode followed an individual at home and work to try to understand the secrets of their success. The cast included chef Gordon Ramsay, actor Brian Cox, yachtswoman Shirley Robertson and a young entrepreneur from the East End of Glasgow.

This was still the early stage of the Michelle Mone story. The business was growing fast but had not yet become international or controversial.

Michelle Mone shows off her OBE, awarded at an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace in 2010 (Picture: Dominic Lipinski/WPA pool) | Getty Images

Button to summon butler

I remember filming in cramped offices in a back street in Glasgow where boxes of Ultimo bras were piled high. Michelle was friendly and upbeat. Wearing her own product, she prodded her chest. “It feels just like breast tissue. Have a feel if you want?” I declined the invitation.

We were keen to film with her at home, to try to understand how she balanced raising a young family and working alongside her husband in the business, but that territory was firmly off limits. Instead we were offered the chance to catch up at Claridge’s in London where Michelle was picking up an award.

In her suite upstairs, she talked about her pride in moving from humble beginnings in Dennistoun to the plush surroundings of a luxury West End hotel. I recall her excitedly showing me a button on the wall that allowed her to summon her own butler.

Back then, there were no difficult questions to ask. The story was what it was. More than 20 years on, things are very different.

The bra business has been sold, the old husband has been replaced by a billionaire and Michelle from Dennistoun is now Lady Mone of Mayfair. PPE Medpro, a company she is linked to, is also the subject of a National Crime Agency investigation over the supply of PPE during the pandemic. She denies doing anything wrong.

A girl-power narrative

Hindsight’s a wonderful thing but there is no doubt Michelle Mone’s rise to fame should have had tougher scrutiny at the time, but her apparent success was taken at face value.

I suspect the problem was that many people wanted to believe the story. At a time when business was still driven by middle-aged men in suits, here was a young woman who possessed few qualifications but did have a seemingly endless supply of drive, determination and ambition.

She wanted to build a good life for herself and her family and to be the woman to make a better product for women than the one currently being designed and marketed by men. What’s not to like about that?

She also emerged at a time when Page 3 was in decline and newspapers were under pressure to reduce their use of salacious photos of the female form. Then along came a female entrepreneur actively pushing images of women in underwear as part of a girl-power narrative. The whole thing was a gift.

Her fall from grace since then is down only to her but we all played a part in the creation of the Michelle Mone story. I doubt it will be one with a happy ending.