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Before this week's £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, industrial firms under the ownership of billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on official data released this week, state aid to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has obtained between £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened on Tuesday to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility producing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention comes after Ineos closed the neighbouring oil refinery in September 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the area and a challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, is understood to have requested government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, in part due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of growing unease over its ability to manage debt, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources 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 came in the form of tax relief in return for “commitments to curb consumption and CO2 output.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than exact amounts.

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

While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies are pushing industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's initial carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Investment and Sustainability Claims

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 very difficult year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these essential materials 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, said the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade overall performance.

He explained the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” 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, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.