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Before the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Latest Revelations and Bailout Package

According to official data published recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has received a total of £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened this week to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, concerned 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 credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention comes after Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the area and a challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, is understood to have asked for government help in October. The request coincides with the expansive Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, in part due to soaring energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its financial health, Fitch Ratings lowered Ineos's credit 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

The majority of the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax relief in return for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and CO2 output.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not constitute “favourable terms” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that meets the requirements.”

Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos spokesperson further stated: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to keep it as one of the most efficient chemical plants in Europe and to protect skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a brutal year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, said the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an ethylene cracker utilising North Sea gas and US-sourced 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 leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.