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Before the recent £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies under the ownership of tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in UK state aid during the previous four-year period.

Recent Revelations and Financial Support

According to government disclosures published 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 obtained a total of £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that without it the UK would lose its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical feedstock for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This support arrives after 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 area and a political problem for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, is understood to have requested government assistance in October. The request comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, in part due to soaring energy costs in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting growing unease over its financial health, the credit rating agency lowered Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest significant funds into his off-road vehicle venture and efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Form of Support and Official Responses

Most the previous state aid was delivered in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “voluntary agreements to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” The value of these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than precise figures.

An Ineos spokesperson said the aid did not represent “favourable terms” for the company, but was “granted based on strict criteria, and available to any UK business that qualifies.”

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 solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and punitive carbon charges 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 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 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. British industry has had a brutal year, yet society depends on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these critical products in the UK, they are brought in from overseas, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, said the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an ethylene cracker running on North Sea gas and imported 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 in the past obtained significant tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.