Chemical Firms Controlled by Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe Obtained As Much As £70m in British Government Support Over the Last Four-Year Period
Prior to this week's £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in British government support over the past four years.
Latest Revelations and Bailout Package
Based on official data released recently, state aid to the Ineos group in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the conglomerate has obtained a total of £28m and £70m.
Authorities intervened this week to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that otherwise the UK would lose its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.
Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges
This intervention arrives after Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a political problem for the government.
Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, is understood to have asked for government help in October. The request comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, in part due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Reflecting increasing concern over its financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.
Nature of Aid and Company Statements
Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to reduce energy use and CO2 output.” Figures for these tax breaks for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.
An Ineos representative stated the aid did not constitute “favourable terms” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”
Although Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, including carbon taxes levied on industrial users.
“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “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 described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they place UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.
Investment and Sustainability Claims
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. British industry has had a very difficult year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”
Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, said the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade overall performance.
He noted the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.
It has also been reported that Ineos has in the past obtained substantial tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.
