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Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Recent Disclosures and Bailout Package

According to official data released recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has received a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Grangemouth operations, fearing that without it the UK would lose its last remaining facility producing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.

Plant Closure and Wider Challenges

This intervention arrives after Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in late 2024, costing 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, reportedly asked for government assistance in October. This appeal coincides with the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, partly due to soaring energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of growing unease over its financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit significant funds into his off-road vehicle venture and the turnaround of Manchester United, 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 breaks in exchange for “commitments to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than exact amounts.

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

While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies are pushing industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Investment and Sustainability Claims

The Ineos representative added: “Ineos has invested over £400m at Grangemouth in the last five years to keep it 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 society depends on this industry every day. If we don't produce these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, said the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an processing unit utilising North Sea gas and US-sourced 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 previously received substantial 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.