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Prior to the recent £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Latest Revelations and Financial Support

According to government disclosures released recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has received a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to provide Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Broader Context

This support arrives following Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback 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 comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, in part due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of growing unease over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings 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.

Form of Support and Official Responses

Most the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax relief in return for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and CO2 output.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than precise figures.

An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not represent “special treatment” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and open to any UK business that qualifies.”

Although Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. Soaring power prices and punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they put 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.

Future 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. British industry has had a very difficult year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce 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 chemicals unit, indicated the Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost overall performance.

He explained the site, which uses an processing unit utilising North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from surging 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, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.