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Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.

Recent Disclosures and Financial Support

According to official data released this week, public funding to the Ineos group in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has received between £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened this week to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This support arrives following Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, resulting in the loss of 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 expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, in part due to soaring energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting growing unease over its ability to manage debt, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his off-road vehicle venture and the turnaround of Manchester United, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Form of Support and Company Statements

The majority of the earlier government support was delivered in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “commitments to curb consumption and CO2 output.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos representative said the aid did not constitute “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 also released more critical comments. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against 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 punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Sustainability Claims

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 safeguard 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 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, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker running on North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from surging energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

Records show that Ineos has in the past obtained substantial tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.