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Prior to this week's £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, 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 official data released this week, state aid to the Ineos group in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has obtained between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to provide Ineos with £50m to support its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that without it the UK would cease to have its sole facility manufacturing ethylene—a vital raw material for plastics. The government also backed a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos committed to invest £30m of its private capital.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention arrives after Ineos closed the neighbouring oil refinery in late 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 assistance in October. The request coincides with the expansive Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced considerable economic strain, partly due to sharply increased energy costs in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting growing unease over its financial health, the credit rating agency downgraded 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.

Nature of Aid and Official Responses

The majority of the earlier government support came in the form of tax relief in return for “commitments to curb consumption and CO2 output.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos spokesperson stated the aid did not constitute “special treatment” 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 separately issued more critical comments. In these, the billionaire strongly criticised government policy, specifically carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. Soaring power prices and punitive carbon charges are driving industry out of the UK at an alarming rate.”

Speaking elsewhere, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “the most idiotic tax in the world,” contending they place UK plants at a competitive disadvantage against international competitors. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's initial carbon import tax.

Investment and Environmental Pledges

The Ineos representative further stated: “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 safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector 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 imported instead, often from more polluting operations abroad.”

A senior Ineos executive, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the Grangemouth money would be used to improve energy efficiency, reduce carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and imported liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from rocketing energy costs and the UK's carbon taxes.

It has also been reported that Ineos has in the past obtained substantial tax breaks from the EU, valued at hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a prominent backer of the campaign for the UK to leave the EU.