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Prior to the recent £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms under the ownership of tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Recent Disclosures and Financial Support

According to official data published recently, state aid to the Ineos group in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has received between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Grangemouth operations, fearing that otherwise the UK would lose its last remaining facility producing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention comes after 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 challenge 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.

Reflecting increasing concern over its financial health, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest substantial resources into his off-road vehicle venture and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Nature of Aid and Official Responses

Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “voluntary agreements 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 representative 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 meets the requirements.”

Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they place UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos representative further stated: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to keep it as one of the most productive chemical plants in Europe and to safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a very difficult year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, said the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost plant 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 surging energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

Records show that Ineos has previously received significant tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.