🔗 Share this article

Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on official data released 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 a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to grant 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 feedstock 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 support arrives after Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, reportedly asked for government help in October. The request comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, partly due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its financial health, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit significant funds into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Nature of Aid and Company Statements

Most the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos representative stated the aid did not represent “favourable terms” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and open to any UK business that meets the requirements.”

While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by 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 driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they put UK plants at a disadvantage against international competitors. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos representative further stated: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to maintain its status as one of the most efficient chemical plants in Europe and to safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a very difficult year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. If we don't produce 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 Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the new funding would be used to enhance 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 “intense strain” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

It has also been reported that Ineos has previously received significant tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.