The billionaire Brexiteer who betrayed his promise to Wales
Brexit supporter Jim Ratcliffe has pulled plans for his company Ineos to build a factory in Wales in favour of a pre-built site in France, as Lydia Stephens reports
SIR Jim Ratcliffe, formerly the UK’s wealthiest person and an ardent Brexit supporter, announced last week that plans to build a new car-manufacturing factory in Wales have been scrapped in favour of a site in France.
As a no-deal Brexit looms, the announcement was a blow to Bridgend, where former Ford workers and residents were expecting a boost from the new factory following the closure of the 40-year-old Ford plant in September.
In a statement, Ineos Automotive, headed by Sir Jim, said the new site in Moselle, France, “gives excellent access to supply chains, automotive talent and target markets”.
Sir Jim described the move as a “unique opportunity”. Ineos announced in 2019 that it would build a 250,000 sq ft manufacturing and assembly plant next to the Ford factory, with plans to start the build in 2021.
The company bought 14 acres of land from the Welsh Government for the build and the venture was expected to create 200 jobs, which could have gone up to 500 “in the long term”.
The factory was to be the site where the 4x4 Grenadier was to be assembled, after final parts were transported across from Europe, including from a BMW plant in Austria and the body from Portugal.
With hundreds of well-paid jobs being lost in the Ford plant’s closure, there were great hopes that it would continue to provide well-paid employment for people in Bridgend.
However, Ineos confirmed this week that the new vehicle will be built at the former Mercedes-Benz Hambach factory in Moselle.
Sir Jim is one of Britain’s wealthiest men, ranking fifth in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List. He has an estimated £17.5bn fortune.
Earlier this year, the petrochemicals magnate and founder of Ineos upped and left his Hampshire home and moved to the tax-free Monaco.
According to the Guardian, the move will save him an estimated £4bn in tax payments. Before that, the 67-year-old was the third-highest individual taxpayer, paying £110m to the Exchequer in 2017-18.
Sir Jim supported Brexit in the run-up to the 2016 referendum and claimed the UK would be “perfectly successful” outside of the European Union.
He told the Sunday Times in 2015: “I think the UK would be perfectly successful as a standalone country, part of the European marketplace like Norway and Switzerland, but without the expensive EU bureaucracy.
“The Brits are perfectly capable of managing the Brits and don’t need Brussels telling them how to manage things.
“I just don’t believe in the concept of a United States of Europe. It’s not viable and it’s not a concept anyone really wants.”
He also insisted at the time that EU member states would still want to trade with the UK even if it withdrew from the trade bloc.
“European countries do not want to be without the UK marketplace. They won’t sacrifice that huge market right on their doorstep, it’s never going to happen.”
In 2016, Ineos released a statement on its website that said: “As a business, Ineos supported the Common Market, but not a United States of Europe.”
Whatever he had hoped, it is hard to recognise that optimism in the current situation. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders predicts that a no-deal Brexit could cost the UK car industry £55bn in manufacturing value, reports the Guardian.
Forecasts commissioned by the lobby group found that tariffs would make a large part of the UK industry unviable and could lead to a drop below one million cars a year (from 1.3 million) if there is no deal.
Bridgend’s Ford site closed in September, ending 40 years of car manufacturing, with almost 1,700 losing their jobs.
When Ineos announced it was looking at Bridgend as a new site for the Grenadier, hope was restored to the area, with up to 500 jobs expected to return to the local industry.
Jamie Wallis, the Conservative MP for Bridgend, said: “I am disappointed and sad to hear the news that Ineos has abandoned its planned investment in Bridgend, which is a massive blow to the local economy and Wales as a whole.
“I have been in touch with the company throughout this process and this decision is one I am deeply disappointed about, not least for those who had hoped to regain employment after the Ford factory closure.
“This investment was due to create many jobs in my Bridgend constituency and with the closure of the Ford Factory, this is leaving even more families worried about where their next pay packet may come from.
“The workforce in Bridgend are a highly-skilled and able workforce and this decision is in no way a reflection of their determination and hard work for Ford over the years.”
On Twitter, Mr Wallis added: “The Welsh Government needs to reclaim all of our money it has spent on the site for them and send the bill to Ineos.”
It is understood the Welsh Government had spent around £5m on supporting the project to date. In July, a Welsh Government spokesperson said it will look to “recoup appropriate costs from the company” should the plan fall through.
Chris Elmore, Labour MP for Ogmore, a constituency which borders the site and is home to many former Ford workers, described Ineos’ move to France as “a broken promise”.
He said: “When the Ford factory closed, we lost highskilled, high-paid jobs that had been there for 40 years. Ineos’ factory in Bridgend would have returned those high-skilled and high-paid jobs to the area.
“Huge commitments were made by the company. This is a real blow to Bridgend and the south Wales economy. We desperately need to create new and additional jobs on the back of the devastating impact coronavirus has has but in addition to that the impact of Brexit.
“An advocate of Brexit is now moving the plant to within the European Union, within the Single Market and Customs Union.
“This is another blow to the area after some initial hope. The Government really need to start looking at how they can invest and deliver jobs that Ford has left.
“It is a double whammy for the area – I have had people contact me from the area to say they are disappointed.”
Mr Elmore said he understands the attraction of choosing a ready-made factory over developing a new site, but insisted that the abandonment contradicts Sir Jim’s views on Brexit.
“Promises were made, we now know they were false promises. He promised people this would be a sensational moment, he campaigned for something he so believed in. When things got a little complicated, he left.”