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Before the recent £50m state rescue package for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded as much as £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Financial Support

According to government disclosures published this week, public funding to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has received a total of £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened on Tuesday to provide Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Plant Closure and Wider Challenges

This intervention arrives after Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in September 2024, costing 400 jobs—a move described as a significant setback to the local community and a political problem for the government.

Ratcliffe, who is worth $14.5bn, is understood to have asked for government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under significant financial pressure, in part due to soaring energy costs following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting growing unease over its financial health, Fitch Ratings lowered Ineos's credit 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 Official Responses

The majority of the previous state aid came in the form of tax breaks in return for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

An Ineos representative said the aid did not constitute “favourable terms” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and open to any UK business that qualifies.”

Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, including carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” arguing they place UK plants at a disadvantage against international competitors. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon import tax.

Investment and 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. British industry 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 brought in from overseas, 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 improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an ethylene cracker utilising North Sea gas and imported 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 substantial tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—interestingly while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.