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Prior to the recent £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, chemical companies controlled by billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Recent Revelations and Bailout Package

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

The government stepped in this week to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that otherwise the UK would cease to have its sole facility producing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m loan guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Broader Context

This intervention arrives after Ineos shut down the neighbouring oil refinery in late 2024, costing 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 help in October. The request comes at a time when the wide-ranging Ineos group, controlled by the 73-year-old, has been under considerable economic strain, partly due to sharply increased energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

In a sign of growing unease over its ability to manage debt, the credit rating agency lowered Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also been required to invest significant funds into his off-road vehicle venture and the turnaround of the football club, in which he holds a minority stake.

Nature of Aid and Official Responses

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

An Ineos spokesperson 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.”

While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised 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. Soaring power prices and burdensome carbon levies 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. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon border adjustment mechanism.

Future 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 everyone relies on this industry every day. Should we fail to manufacture these essential materials 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, indicated the new funding would be used to enhance energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He explained the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “extreme pressure” 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.