Chemical Firms Controlled by Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe Received As Much As £70m in UK State Aid In the Last Four-Year Period
Before the recent £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, chemical companies under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support over the past four years.
Latest Revelations and Bailout Package
According to government disclosures published recently, state aid to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has obtained between £28m and £70m.
Authorities intervened on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, fearing that without it the UK would lose its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.
Plant Closure and Broader Context
This intervention arrives following Ineos shut down the adjacent oil refinery in late 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a political problem for the government.
The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, reportedly requested government assistance in October. The request 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 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Reflecting growing unease over its financial health, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his off-road vehicle venture and efforts to revitalise Manchester United, in which he holds a minority stake.
Form of Support and Official Responses
The majority of the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than precise figures.
An Ineos representative said the aid did not represent “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”
Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos separately issued sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.
“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies are pushing 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. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon import tax.
Investment and Sustainability Claims
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 safeguard skilled jobs. British industry has had a brutal year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these essential materials in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”
A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, indicated the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.
He explained the site, which uses an processing unit utilising North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.
Records show that Ineos has previously received significant tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.