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Before this week's £50m government bailout for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms under the ownership of billionaire Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted up to £70m in British government support over the past four years.

Recent Disclosures and Bailout Package

Based on government disclosures published recently, state aid to Ratcliffe's chemical empire in the most recent year was between £16m and £38m. Since August 2022, the conglomerate has obtained between £28m and £70m.

The government stepped in this week to grant Ineos with £50m to support its Grangemouth operations, concerned that otherwise the UK would cease to have its last remaining facility manufacturing ethylene—a critical 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 intervention comes following Ineos closed the adjacent oil refinery in September 2024, costing 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, 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 faced significant financial pressure, in part due to soaring energy costs following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Reflecting growing unease over its financial health, the credit rating agency lowered Ineos's debt rating in September. Ratcliffe has also had to commit substantial resources into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and efforts to revitalise Manchester United, in which he holds a minority stake.

Nature of Aid and Official Responses

Most the previous state aid came in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for 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 represent “special treatment” for the company, but was “awarded against strict criteria, and open to any UK business that meets the requirements.”

Although Ratcliffe thanked the government for the £50m support in an official statement, Ineos also released more critical comments. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The answer is NOT decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” he stated. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. High energy costs and punitive carbon charges are driving industry out of the UK at an unsustainable pace.”

In further comments, Ratcliffe described carbon taxes as “an extremely foolish levy in the world,” arguing they put UK plants at a disadvantage against foreign rivals. It is noted that most chemicals and plastics are not covered 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 maintain its status as one of the most productive 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 critical products in the UK, they are imported instead, often from higher-carbon production abroad.”

Colin Pritchard, head of sustainability for the company's Olefins & Polymers division, indicated the Grangemouth money would be used to enhance energy efficiency, cut carbon emissions, and upgrade plant performance.

He noted the site, which uses an ethylene cracker utilising North Sea gas and US-sourced 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 previously received substantial 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.