INEOS O&P UK is in talks with several different companies interested in relocating to Grangemouth – home of INEOS’ new, £20 million HQ which recently won an award for architectural excellence.
Site business development manager Ian Little said no deals had yet been signed but he was confident of the site’s renewed appeal following INEOS’ ground-breaking decision to ship ethane from the US to the Scottish port.
“It is very early days at the moment,” he said. “We’ve had preliminary discussions with a small number of chemical manufacturing companies.”
INEOS’ vision for the Grangemouth site is that, by 2020, it will become a leading global chemical manufacturing hub and a centre of excellence.
Its new HQ certainly helps to give off an air of confidence.
In March this year, that renewed confi dence was felt when the four-storey building, which had been designed by one of Scotland’s leading fi rm of architects, picked up a prize at the 4th annual Scottish Property Awards in Edinburgh.
“For us, the building signals our ongoing commitment to creating a world class manufacturing site at Grangemouth,” said John McNally, CEO INEOS Olefins & Polymers UK.
The new offices, though, which have brought the 450 people who work for INEOS Olefins & Polymers together for the first time since INEOS bought the site from BP in 2005, are just one part of INEOS’ long-term, £450 million investment into its 1,700- acre Grangemouth site.
The shipments of shale gas, which began arriving at Grangemouth late last year, have breathed new life into the site and brought about a renaissance in petrochemical manufacturing.