Nigel Farage is expected to meet Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the billionaire industrialist and founder of Ineos, before Christmas as Reform UK accelerates efforts to build relationships with major British business figures.
Ratcliffe, who co-owns Manchester United and is among the UK’s richest individuals with an estimated fortune of £23.5 billion, confirmed that Farage had requested the meeting during an interview for The Business, a new podcast by The Times.
The Ineos chairman, known for his outspoken views on energy policy, has been one of the most vocal critics of Britain’s net zero targets, describing plans to eliminate fossil fuels from the electricity grid by 2030 as “absurd”.
He warned that the combined impact of high energy costs, carbon taxes, and cheap Chinese imports was “crippling” Europe’s chemical industry and putting up to one million direct jobs at risk.
“You could probably multiply that by ten if you look at all the indirect jobs in services — it’s probably ten million jobs in Europe and three-quarters of a trillion euros in value,” Ratcliffe said.
Ratcliffe’s comments come after Ineos announced a series of plant closures and job losses across Europe.
On Tuesday, the company cut 60 jobs — a fifth of its workforce — at its Hull acetyls plant, citing energy costs and the flood of low-cost, carbon-heavy imports from China.
Just a day earlier, Ineos confirmed the closure of two chemicals facilities in Germany, affecting 175 staff. In April, it shut the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland, though the site’s chemicals operations remain active.
Ratcliffe said high operating costs were undermining competitiveness: “Grangemouth is a good facility, but it hasn’t made money for two or three years. We’re spending about £130 million a year extra on high energy costs and carbon taxes. Over ten years that’s £1.3 billion — money that should be going into investment.”
Ratcliffe said he had also met Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, but confirmed that Farage had been the one to reach out directly. Both Reform UK and the Conservatives have signalled their intention to scrap or delay elements of the UK’s net zero targets if elected.
Asked about his political stance, Ratcliffe said he remained “neutral”, but believed many voters were drawn to Farage’s focus on tax, crime, and the economy.
“I think most people would support him if he could sort those things,” Ratcliffe said. “But I’ve always been neutral on political parties. I just want one that runs the country well. I can’t see myself paying for policies.”
The Ineos founder added that Britain had become a “high tax, high immigration, high crime” country, and compared the current political mood to the one that helped Donald Trump win in the US.
He described the prime minister as a “reasonable bloke” but questioned whether he was “too nice” to make the “tough decisions” needed to address structural economic challenges.
Reform UK declined to comment on the forthcoming meeting.
Farage’s outreach to Ratcliffe comes amid growing efforts by Reform UK to position itself as a pro-business party and attract industrial leaders frustrated by high taxes, regulatory pressures, and energy policy uncertainty.
For Ratcliffe — whose company employs 24,000 people worldwide — the discussion will likely centre on the future of British manufacturing competitiveness, energy security, and trade policy in a post-Brexit Europe.
With the UK’s chemical sector warning of shrinking margins and offshoring risk, the meeting could mark the start of a deeper political dialogue between Britain’s industrial base and the emerging Reform movement.
Jamie Young
Jamie is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, bringing over a decade of experience in UK SME business reporting.
Jamie holds a degree in Business Administration and regularly participates in industry conferences and workshops.
When not reporting on the latest business developments, Jamie is passionate about mentoring up-and-coming journalists and entrepreneurs to inspire the next generation of business leaders.
