Industrial Firms Controlled by Tycoon Jim Ratcliffe Received As Much As £70m in British State Aid In the Past Four Years
Before this week's £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms controlled by tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.
Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package
Based on official data published this week, state aid to the Ineos group in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the conglomerate has obtained between £28m and £70m.
Authorities intervened on Tuesday 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 critical raw material for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.
Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges
This intervention comes following Ineos shut down the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the area and a political problem for the government.
The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, reportedly requested government help 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 considerable economic strain, in part due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In a sign of increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, the credit rating agency 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 Official Responses
The majority of the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than precise figures.
An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not constitute “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”
While Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.
“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “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 unsustainable pace.”
In further comments, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” arguing they place UK plants at a disadvantage against international competitors. 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 representative added: “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. British industry has had a brutal 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 more polluting operations abroad.”
A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, indicated the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.
He noted the site, which uses an processing unit running on 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, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.
