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Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Bailout Package

According to official data published recently, state aid to the Ineos group in the last year alone ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has obtained between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, concerned that without it the UK would lose its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.

Plant Closure and Broader Context

This support comes following Ineos shut down the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a challenge for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, is understood to have asked for government assistance in October. This appeal 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 soaring energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit significant funds into his off-road vehicle venture and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Nature of Aid and Official Responses

Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax relief in exchange for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use 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 “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”

While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos separately issued sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs 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,” arguing they place UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against international competitors. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future Sustainability Claims

The Ineos representative 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. Should we fail to manufacture these essential materials 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 Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He explained 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 in the past obtained substantial tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.