Hundreds of Jobs to be Lost in Global Restructuring
Ineos Automotive, the car manufacturer owned by billionaire industrialist Sir Jim Ratcliffe, has announced it will cut hundreds of jobs from its global workforce. The company, which forms part of the heavily indebted Ineos Group Holdings, stated the move is a strategic measure to simplify its head office structure and improve overall efficiency.
The firm did not specify an exact figure for the job losses but confirmed it would be letting go of "several hundred" head office staff from its 1,700-strong global team. The cuts are expected to affect multiple locations, including sites in the UK and various parts of Europe.
Production Plant Spared as Head Office Bears Brunt
It is understood that the job cuts are unlikely to impact the company's automotive plant in Hambach, France. This facility is responsible for building the Ineos Grenadier, an off-road vehicle designed as a homage to the discontinued Land Rover Defender.
The decision comes as Ratcliffe struggles to turn his automotive vision into a profitable enterprise. The venture has faced a series of challenges, including a major recall in the United States. The company was forced to recall more than 7,000 Grenadier vehicles due to faulty doors, highlighting quality control issues.
Further pressure has been applied to the business by former US President Donald Trump's decision to impose higher tariffs on car imports. This move is particularly significant as the United States represents the Grenadier's largest market.
Broader Business Empire Under Financial Strain
Ineos Automotive is a component of a vast business empire primarily focused on chemicals manufacturing. The group's financial health has been called into question, with two leading credit rating agencies, Fitch Ratings and Moody's, raising red flags earlier this year.
The agencies reported that Ratcliffe's chemicals business had accumulated debts that were between five and six times larger than the company's annual earnings. According to Fitch, this debt burden has since escalated to a staggering eight times the company's annual earnings, with the total debt pile potentially climbing to nearly €12 billion (£10 billion) this year.
The financial strain is not isolated to the automotive division. Last month, Ineos closed two chemical factories in Germany and announced it would cut a fifth of the jobs at its plant in East Yorkshire. The company blamed "sky-high" energy costs and "dirt-cheap" imports from China for these decisions.
Ratcliffe, a prominent Brexit supporter with a net worth of £17 billion according to The Sunday Times Rich List, built the Ineos empire by using debt to finance strategic acquisitions in the chemicals industry. In recent years, he has diversified his investments, which include a minority stake in Manchester United FC—a club that has reported a £300 million loss over the past three years—as well as ventures into sporting teams and the fashion brand Belstaff, which was sold to Castore in September.
The company has been vocal in its criticism of European green policies, accusing the continent of "industrial suicide" by implementing regulations that it claims raise energy costs. Ineos is also actively filing anti-dumping cases in an attempt to block the import of cheap chemical products into the EU, seeking to protect its core petrochemicals business from further financial damage.
