Industrial Firms Owned by Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe Received As Much As £70m in UK Government Support Over the Past Four Years
Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, industrial firms controlled by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support over the past four years.
Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package
According to official data released recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has obtained between £28m and £70m.
Authorities intervened this week to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, concerned that without it 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 committed to invest £30m of its private capital.
Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges
This support arrives following Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in late 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the area and a political problem 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, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, in part due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Reflecting growing unease over its financial health, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's credit 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 Official Responses
The majority of the earlier government support came in the form of tax relief in exchange 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 precise figures.
An Ineos spokesperson said the aid did not represent “favourable terms” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and open to any UK business that meets the requirements.”
Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.
“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”
Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they place UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against international competitors. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.
Future 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 productive chemical plants in Europe and to protect skilled jobs. British industry has had a very difficult year, yet society depends on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these critical products in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, often from more polluting operations abroad.”
Colin Pritchard, 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 overall performance.
He noted the site, which uses an processing unit utilising 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 in the past obtained substantial 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.
