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Prior to this week's £50m government bailout for its Scottish plant, chemical companies controlled by tycoon Sir Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in UK state aid over the past four years.

Latest Disclosures and Bailout Package

According to government disclosures published this week, state aid to the Ineos group in the most recent year ranged from £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has received between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in on Tuesday to grant Ineos with £50m to prop up its Scottish ethylene plant, fearing that otherwise the UK would lose its sole facility producing ethylene—a vital feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Plant Closure and Wider Challenges

This support comes after Ineos shut down the adjacent oil refinery in late 2024, resulting in the loss of 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. The request comes at a time when the expansive 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 increasing concern over its ability to manage debt, Fitch Ratings downgraded Ineos's credit rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of Manchester United, in which he holds a minority stake.

Nature of Aid and Company Statements

Most the previous state aid came in the form of tax breaks in exchange for “voluntary agreements to reduce energy use and CO2 output.” Figures for these tax breaks for Ineos's plants in Grangemouth and Hull were given as estimates rather than exact amounts.

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

While Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued more critical comments. In these, the industrialist strongly criticised government policy, including carbon taxes levied on industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Lacking a robust manufacturing base, the economy will falter. High energy costs and burdensome carbon levies 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,” arguing they put UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are excluded from the UK's planned carbon import tax.

Investment and Sustainability Claims

The Ineos representative 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 safeguard skilled jobs. The UK chemicals sector has had a brutal year, yet everyone relies on this industry every day. If we don't produce 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 improve energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and boost plant performance.

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

It has also been reported that Ineos has previously received substantial tax breaks from the EU, worth hundreds of millions of euros—notably while Ratcliffe was a leading supporter of the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union.