Michelle Mone, Baroness Mone

Michelle Georgina Mone, Baroness Mone, OBE (née Allan; 8 October 1971, Glasgow, Scotland) is a British entrepreneur and parliamentarian.

Through MJM International, she founded the lingerie company Ultimo, retaining a 20% stake, and Lady Mone is the sole owner of fake-tanning brand UTan.

On 27 August 2015, Downing Street announced her elevation to the peerage, and she was introduced in the House of Lords on 15 October by fellow Conservative peers Lord Freud and Baroness Morris of Bolton.

Early life

Born in 1971, Michelle Allan grew up in Glasgow's East End. She left school aged 15 to become a model, but this career came to an end after she became pregnant with her first child and married Michael Mone (divorced 2013).

Career

Mone strived to return to employment and obtained a marketing job with the Labatt brewing company. Within two years she had risen to become its head of marketing in Scotland. After revealing that she had embellished the qualifications on her CV in order to get the job, she was made redundant by Labatt prompting Mone to set up her own business. While wearing a very uncomfortable cleavage enhancing brassière at a dinner dance, Mone realised she could improve the design. Her stated aims were to create a brassière that was both more comfortable and better looking, whilst enhancing more cleavage. Mone had read about a new silicone product while on holiday in Florida, and approached the company to obtain its European licence to produce bras.