🔗 Share this article

Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms under the ownership of tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Recent Disclosures and Financial Support

According to official data released this week, public funding to the Ineos group in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has obtained a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, concerned that otherwise the UK would lose its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention comes after Ineos closed the neighbouring oil refinery in September 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a challenge for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, is understood to have requested government assistance in October. The request coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, in part due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest significant funds into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of the football club, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Nature of Aid and Company Statements

The majority of the previous state aid came in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “commitments to curb consumption and CO2 output.” Figures for 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 constitute “favourable terms” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”

Although Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are pushing industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they place UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Sustainability Claims

The Ineos spokesperson added: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to keep it 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 essential materials in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, 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 improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade overall performance.

He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker utilising North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from surging 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, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.