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Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Latest Revelations and Bailout Package

According to official data released recently, public funding to the Ineos group in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the conglomerate has received between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility producing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its private capital.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This support comes after Ineos closed the neighbouring 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.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, reportedly asked for government assistance in October. The request comes at a time when the wide-ranging 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 increasing concern over its financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Form of Support and Official Responses

The majority of the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos spokesperson said the aid did not constitute “special treatment” 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 official statement, Ineos separately issued sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, including carbon taxes levied on 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 described 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 excluded from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Investment and Sustainability Claims

The Ineos spokesperson further stated: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to maintain its status as one of the most efficient chemical plants in Europe and to safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector 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 brought in from overseas, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an processing unit utilising North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

Records show 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 leave the EU.