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Before this week's £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on official data released recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has obtained between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to provide Ineos with £50m to support its Grangemouth operations, concerned that otherwise the UK would lose its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Broader Context

This intervention comes following Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the area and a political problem for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, reportedly asked for government assistance in October. This appeal comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, in part due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's full-scale 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 been required to invest 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

Most the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax relief in return for “commitments to reduce energy use and CO2 output.” The value of these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not represent “favourable terms” for the company, but was “awarded against 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 also released sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, including carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they place UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon import tax.

Future Environmental Pledges

The Ineos spokesperson added: “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 brought in from overseas, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” 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—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.