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Prior to the recent £50m state rescue package for its Grangemouth facility, industrial firms under the ownership of tycoon Jim Ratcliffe had already been granted as much as £70m in British government support during the previous four-year period.

Recent Disclosures and Bailout Package

According to government disclosures released this week, public funding to the Ineos group in the last year alone was between £16m and £38m. From August 2022 onwards, the company has received between £28m and £70m.

Authorities intervened this week to grant 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 feedstock for plastics. Officials additionally supported a £75m credit guarantee, while Ineos pledged to invest £30m of its own funds.

Refinery Shutdown and Wider Challenges

This intervention comes after Ineos shut down 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, reportedly asked for government help in October. This appeal comes at a time when the expansive Ineos group, under the control of the 73-year-old, has faced significant financial pressure, in part due to soaring energy costs following Russia's full-scale 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 significant funds into his Ineos Grenadier automotive project and the turnaround of Manchester United, in which he holds a partial ownership.

Form of Support and Official Responses

Most the earlier government support came in the form of tax breaks in return for “commitments to curb consumption and carbon dioxide emissions.” Figures for these relief schemes for Ineos's sites in Grangemouth and Hull are reported as ranges rather than precise figures.

An Ineos representative 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.”

Although Ratcliffe publicly welcomed the £50m support in an announcement, Ineos separately issued sharper remarks. In these, the billionaire launched a broadside against government policy, specifically carbon taxes paid by industrial users.

“The solution is not decarbonisation by deindustrialisation,” Ratcliffe wrote. “Without a strong manufacturing base, the economy will continue to decline. 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,” contending they put UK plants at a disadvantage against international competitors. Currently, most chemicals and plastics are not covered from the UK's initial carbon import tax.

Future Sustainability Claims

The Ineos spokesperson 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. British industry 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 more polluting operations abroad.”

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

He explained the site, which uses an processing unit running on North Sea gas and US-sourced liquefied petroleum gas, had been under “intense strain” from surging 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 exit the European Union.