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Before this week's £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on official data released this week, state aid to the Ineos group in the most recent year ranged from £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 Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that without it the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing 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 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 asked for government help in October. This appeal coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, partly due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of 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 been required to invest 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 Official Responses

Most the earlier government support was delivered in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these tax breaks for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not represent “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and open to any UK business that meets the requirements.”

While Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against 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 unsustainable pace.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they place UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Future Sustainability Claims

The Ineos representative added: “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 protect skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a very difficult year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, said the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce 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.

Records show that Ineos has previously received 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.