<\/p>\n
Jim Ratcliffe\u2019s chemicals company Ineos has been granted \u00a3120m of government funding to help save the UK\u2019s last ethylene plant at Grangemouth, in a deal expected to protect more than 500 jobs.<\/p>\n
The investment in the Scottish plant was necessary to preserve a vital part of the country\u2019s chemicals infrastructure, the UK government said. The ethylene produced there was essential for medical-grade plastics production, water treatment and in aerospace and car-building, it added.<\/p>\n
Keir Starmer said the investment, with an additional \u00a330m from Ineos<\/a>, was proof his government would \u201cinvest in Britain\u2019s future\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is about good jobs, stronger communities, and a modern economy that works for everyone,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cOur commitment is clear: to back British industry, to stand by hardworking families, and to ensure places like Grangemouth can thrive for years to come. Promise made, promise delivered.\u201d<\/p>\n Ratcliffe, 73, has a minority stake in Manchester United and is worth $14.7bn (\u00a311bn) according to Bloomberg\u2019s billionaires index<\/a>.<\/p>\n He said the government support \u201cprotects 500 high-value jobs, secures supply chains and preserves the industrial capability the nation needs\u201d.<\/p>\n The deal, which will be unveiled at the site near Edinburgh by the chancellor Rachel Reeves and business secretary Peter Kyle on Wednesday morning, also has significant political implications.<\/p>\n Both the UK and Scottish governments have come under intense criticism for failing to act quickly to replace the hundreds of jobs lost earlier this year when Ineos closed its other major site at Grangemouth<\/a> \u2013 an oil refinery that it co-owned with PetroChina.<\/p>\n The political crisis over job losses linked to the transition away from oil and gas deepened when ExxonMobil announced last month<\/a> it was closing its ageing ethylene plant in Fife next February, with the loss of 429 jobs. In that case, the UK government rejected pleas to invest in it, arguing the site has no competitive future.<\/p>\n