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Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies under the ownership of billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on government disclosures published 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 provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility producing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention arrives after Ineos closed the neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, resulting in the loss of 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, is understood to have asked for 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 been under significant financial pressure, in part due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of growing unease over its financial health, the credit rating agency lowered 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.

Form of Support and Official Responses

Most the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax breaks in return for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and CO2 output.” 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 represent “favourable terms” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that meets the requirements.”

While Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, including carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

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

Future 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 protect skilled jobs. British industry has had a brutal year, yet society depends on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these essential materials 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 Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost overall performance.

He noted the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

Records show 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 exit the European Union.