Before the recent £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.
Based on official data published this week, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has received between £28m and £70m.
Authorities intervened this week to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Grangemouth operations, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.
This intervention arrives following Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in late 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, reportedly requested government help in October. This appeal coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, in part due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Reflecting growing unease over its ability to manage debt, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit significant funds into his off-road vehicle venture and the turnaround of the football club, in which he holds a partial ownership.
Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than precise figures.
An Ineos representative said the aid did not constitute “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”
While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos also released more critical comments. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against government policy, including carbon taxes levied on industrial users.
“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and punitive carbon charges are driving industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”
Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” contending 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 import tax.
The Ineos representative further stated: “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. The UK chemicals sector 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 higher-carbon production 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 noted the site, which uses an processing unit utilising North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” 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 prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.
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