Industrial Firms Owned by Tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe Obtained Up to £70m in British Government Support In the Last Four-Year Period

Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.

Recent Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on government disclosures published recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has obtained a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility producing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention comes following Ineos shut down the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the local community and a challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, is understood to have asked for government help in October. This appeal coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, partly due to soaring energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its financial health, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Form of Support and Company Statements

The majority of the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos representative stated the aid did not represent “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and open to any UK business that qualifies.”

Although Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Environmental Pledges

The Ineos representative further stated: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to maintain its status as one of the most efficient chemical plants in Europe and to protect skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a brutal year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, said the Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade overall performance.

He noted the site, which uses an ethylene cracker running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

Records show that Ineos has in the past obtained significant tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.