Industrial Companies Owned by Tycoon Jim Ratcliffe Received Up to £70m in British Government Support In the Last Four-Year Period
Before the recent £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.
Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package
According to government disclosures published recently, public funding to the Ineos group in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has received between £28m and £70m.
The government stepped in this week to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility producing ethylene—a vital raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.
Plant Closure and Wider Challenges
This intervention arrives following Ineos closed the neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the area and a political problem for the government.
The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, reportedly asked for government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, in part due to soaring energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Reflecting increasing concern over its financial health, Fitch Ratings lowered Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise Manchester United, in which he holds a partial ownership.
Form of Support and Official Responses
The majority of the earlier government support came in the form of tax relief in return for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.
An Ineos representative said the aid did not represent “favourable terms” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and open to any UK business that meets the requirements.”
While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.
“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”
In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against international competitors. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon border adjustment mechanism.
Future Environmental Pledges
The Ineos spokesperson added: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to keep it as one of the most productive chemical plants in Europe and to protect skilled jobs. British industry has had a brutal year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these essential materials in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, often from more polluting operations abroad.”
A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost overall performance.
He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker utilising North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.
It has also been reported that Ineos has previously received substantial tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.
