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Prior to this week's £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies under the ownership of tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe were already awarded up to £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Latest Revelations and Financial Support

Based on government disclosures published this week, state aid to the Ineos group in the last year alone ranged from £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the company has obtained a total of £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened this week to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, concerned that without it the UK would lose its sole facility producing ethylene—a vital 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 neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, resulting in the loss of 400 jobs—a move described as a huge blow to the area and a challenge for the government.

The billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $14.5bn, is understood to have requested government help in October. This appeal coincides with the wide-ranging Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, partly due to soaring energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of 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 efforts to revitalise the football club, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Form of Support and Official Responses

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

An Ineos spokesperson said 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 announcement, Ineos also released sharper remarks. In these, the industrialist launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “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 unsustainable pace.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe labelled carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against foreign rivals. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Future Environmental Pledges

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 safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a brutal 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.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's chemicals unit, said the Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an ethylene cracker running on 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 in the past obtained 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.