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Before this week's £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms under the ownership of tycoon Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Recent Revelations and Financial Support

Based on government disclosures released recently, state aid to the Ineos group in the last year alone ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has obtained between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that without it the UK would cease to have its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.

Plant Closure and Wider Challenges

This support comes following Ineos shut down 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 political problem for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, reportedly asked for government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, in part due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest substantial resources into his off-road vehicle venture and the turnaround of the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Form of Support and Official Responses

The majority of the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and CO2 output.” Figures for these relief schemes 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 “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 announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are pushing industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they place UK plants at a disadvantage against international competitors. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Investment and 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 efficient chemical plants in Europe and to protect skilled jobs. British industry 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 imported instead, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, said the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an ethylene cracker utilising 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, worth hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.