🔗 Share this article

Before this week's £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Recent Revelations and Financial Support

Based on official data published recently, state aid to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has received a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that without it the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital raw material for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.

Plant Closure and Wider Challenges

This intervention arrives following Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the local community and a political problem for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, reportedly requested government assistance in October. The request comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, partly due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of growing unease over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's debt 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 partial ownership.

Form of Support and Company Statements

Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax relief in return for “commitments to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

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

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

“The answer 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 pushing industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Environmental Pledges

The Ineos representative added: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to maintain its status 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 critical products 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 chemicals unit, said the Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut 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 “extreme pressure” from surging energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

Records show that Ineos has in the past obtained significant tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.