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Prior to this week's £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms controlled by billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Latest Disclosures and Financial Support

According to official data published recently, state aid to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has received between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to provide Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, fearing that otherwise the UK would lose its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This support arrives after Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the local community and a challenge for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, is understood to have requested government assistance in October. The request coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, partly due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting increasing concern over its financial health, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project 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 breaks in exchange for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos representative stated the aid did not constitute “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”

Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, including 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.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned 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 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 chemicals unit, indicated the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and imported 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 previously received significant tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.