Chemical Companies Owned by Tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe Received Up to £70m in UK State Aid In the Past Four Years
Prior to this week's £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.
Recent Disclosures and Financial Support
According to government disclosures published this week, state aid to the Ineos group in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has received between £28m and £70m.
Authorities intervened on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, fearing that otherwise the UK would lose its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.
Refinery Shutdown and Broader Context
This support comes following Ineos shut down the adjacent oil refinery in late 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the local community and a political problem for the government.
The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, is understood to have requested government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, in part 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 significant funds into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.
Form of Support and Company Statements
The majority of 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 spokesperson said 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 publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.
“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and punitive carbon charges are pushing industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”
In further comments, Ratcliffe labelled 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 planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.
Investment and Sustainability Claims
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 protect skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a very difficult year, yet society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these essential materials in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, often from more polluting operations abroad.”
Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, said the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade overall performance.
He explained the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.
Records show 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 leave the EU.
