🔗 Share this article

Before the recent £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, industrial firms under the ownership of tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Bailout Package

According to government disclosures released this week, state aid to the Ineos group in the last year alone ranged from £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has obtained between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility producing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.

Plant Closure and Broader Context

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 requested government assistance in October. This appeal comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, partly due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest significant funds into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Form of Support and Company Statements

The majority of the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in return for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and CO2 output.” Figures for these tax breaks 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 “favourable terms” 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 announcement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, specifically 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 burdensome carbon levies are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against international competitors. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon import tax.

Investment and Sustainability Claims

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 safeguard skilled jobs. British industry has had a brutal year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. If we don't produce 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, said the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He noted 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.

Records show that Ineos has in the past obtained 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.