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Prior to this week's £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Bailout Package

According to government disclosures published this week, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has received between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that without it the UK would lose its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Plant Closure and Broader Context

This intervention arrives following Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in late 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the local community and a challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, is understood to have requested government assistance in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, partly due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of growing unease over its financial health, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise Manchester United, in which he holds a minority stake.

Form of Support and Company Statements

The majority of the earlier government support was delivered in the form of tax relief in exchange for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and CO2 output.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos representative said the aid did not constitute “special treatment” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and available to any UK business that meets the requirements.”

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

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and punitive carbon charges are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe labelled 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 initial carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future 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 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. 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 Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an processing unit utilising North Sea gas and imported 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—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.