Industrial Firms Owned by Tycoon Jim Ratcliffe Received Up to £70m in UK State Aid Over the Past Four Years
Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, industrial firms under the ownership of tycoon Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in British government support over the past four years.
Recent Disclosures and Financial Support
Based on official data published recently, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has received between £28m and £70m.
The government stepped in this week to provide Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that otherwise the UK would lose its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.
Plant Closure and Wider Challenges
This support arrives after Ineos closed the neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow 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. The request coincides with the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, partly due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Reflecting increasing concern over its financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of Manchester United, in which he holds a partial ownership.
Nature of Aid and Official Responses
Most the earlier government support was delivered in the form of tax relief in exchange for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these tax breaks for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.
An Ineos representative stated the aid did not constitute “favourable terms” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and available to any UK business that meets the requirements.”
Although Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by industrial users.
“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”
In further comments, 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 initial carbon import tax.
Investment and Environmental Pledges
The Ineos spokesperson 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 protect skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a very difficult year, yet society depends on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture 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 Olefins & Polymers division, said the new funding would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost overall performance.
He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” from surging 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—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.
