UK Edition
A celebrity watchmaker with a chequered corporate history has won a £2.8m contract to supply gloves for health workers, stoking concerns about the Government’s £15bn PPE spending spree.
Cheshire-based Bellagio Global says it specialises in custom-made “watches for the stars”, and makes gifts for fans of pop stars such as Bruno Mars and Rihanna.
It is among several relatively small companies, many with no experience in PPE, to have won multi-million pound contracts from the Department for Health as it scrambled to get supplies at the height of the pandemic.
The Treasury last week revealed the overall bill has reached £15bn.
Bellagio Global was incorporated in April last year. Michael Cohen put another of his companies, Bellagio Europe, which had turnover of £1.3m, into liquidation in July last year due to its liabilities. Records show it owed £40,000 to HMRC for VAT when it collapsed. Mr Cohen said this had been settled.
The Sunday Telegraph has found that other beneficiaries include Luxe Lifestyle, a small fashion company run by designer Karen Brost, which was awarded a contract worth £25.8m. KAU Media Group, a small marketing agency in Hammersmith, also won a public sector PPE contract.
The Department for Health says it runs a “robust” process.