INEOS launches novel book to celebrate 25th Anniversary
Grit, Rigour & Humour: The INEOS Story
Publication date: July 13 2023
- To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its founding, INEOS has invited seven leading journalists and specialists, plus Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Founder and Chairman of INEOS, to report on the business and comment on its remarkable growth which has turned it into one of the world’s leading companies in just 25 years.
- Guest authors – who were given complete editorial freedom - include journalists and experts: Dominic O’Connell, Quentin Willson, Patrick Barclay, Steph McGovern, Sean Keach, Lord Seb Coe, and Sir Andrew Likierman - plus an account from Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself.
- Final chapter of ‘raw’ notes and comments from CEOs and senior INEOS people, unearths hidden gems and nuggets into how Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Andy Currie, and John Reece have built INEOS into what it is today.
- Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Founder and Chairman of INEOS says: “This is a momentous year for INEOS and to mark the occasion we’ve commissioned Grit, Rigour & Humour. We have opened our doors to some of the world’s most respected voices who have delivered a series of fascinating and honest assessments of our business. It is very much a ‘no holds barred’ book and the better for it.”
May 5th 2023: INEOS, one of the UK’s biggest business success stories, is launching Grit, Rigour & Humour: The INEOS Story, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of its founding.
In 2018, INEOS published The Alchemists, the inside story of the growth of one of the UK’s largest private companies written by INEOS’ three owners. Grit, Rigour & Humour invites seven leading experts to come inside the business and see for themselves. Chapters include automotive, sport, consumer products, chemicals, philanthropy and more. In the first chapter, authored by Sir Jim Ratcliffe himself, he shares his most revealing insights into his personal approach to business and the growth of INEOS.
Through the expert voices of seven guest authors, all authorities in INEOS key business areas, and with unprecedented access to INEOS and its people, they reveal what makes the business tick. The book includes inside accounts of how INEOS has delivered its very own 4x4 vehicle from scratch and how the company’s ethos drives its investments in high-profile sports teams and high-performance ventures.
- Dominic O’Connell reveals the INEOS business strategy through interviews with INEOS CEOs;
- Quentin Willson covers the birth, development and production of the INEOS Grenadier vehicle;
- Patrick Barclay deep dives into INEOS’ global sports portfolio and its commitment to high performance;
- Steph McGovern gets behind INEOS’ consumer offering including Belstaff and INEOS Hygienics;
- Sean Keach investigates INEOS’ journey to Net Zero and its investment in the energy transition;
- Lord Sebastian Coe discusses INEOS’ commitment to the next generation;
- Sir Andrew Likiermann looks at INEOS’ impact on charities and philanthropic organisations.
(See more detail on each author in the Notes to Editors)
The final chapter includes selections of ‘raw’ notes and comments from a number of CEOs and senior people across INEOS’ 36 businesses, unearthing hidden gems and nuggets of insight into just how Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Andy Currie, and John Reece have built INEOS into what it is today.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe continues: “I want to thank all of the authors, my colleagues, and my friends for taking the time to help produce this account of where INEOS is today. It is a fair account with both praise and criticism. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading what are largely outsiders’ perspectives on INEOS and their take on all that we have achieved.”
Grit, Rigour & Humour will be published on July 13 2023 by Penguin Random House in hardback, RRP £25.00. The book is available for pre-order now, at this link.
ENDS
Media Contacts
Richard Longden (Richard.longden@ineos.com) +41 7996 26123
Mark Killick (mark@mediazoo.tv) 0044 7836 634449
Andrew McLachlan (andrew@mediazoo.tv) 0044 7931 377162
Alex Williams (alex.williams@mediazoo.tv) 0044 7793 207325
About Grit, Rigour & Humour’s authors
Dominic O’Connell
Dominic O'Connell is the business presenter on Times Radio having previously done the same job on BBC Radio 4's Today programme. Before that he was business editor of The Sunday Times for six years. He has won several national journalism awards including the Wincott Award, the premier award for business writers and broadcasters, in 2017. Born in New Zealand, O'Connell also writes a weekly column for The Times business section.
Quentin Willson
Motoring journalist and transport campaigner, Quentin Willson, is one of Britain’s best known motoring media faces. He presented BBC 2 Top Gear for fifteen years along with Channel 5’s Britain’s Worst Driver, The Classic Car Show and BBC2’s The Car’s The Star and has written 11 global motoring books. He’s won the British Press Awards Motoring Writer of the Year, co-founded the FairFuel campaign, saving over £120 billion in planned fuel duty rises, and also founded FairCharge, an electric vehicle lobby group to help make EV transition accessible, affordable and to push the Government to deliver more charging infrastructure.
Well known in Westminster and auto industry boardrooms, he’s been campaigning on UK automotive and transport issues for over 30 years, writes for car magazines and newspapers and is a regular transport commentator on TV and radio.
Patrick Barclay
Patrick Barclay, a former Sports Writer of The Year, covered football for a succession of national newspapers. He began at The Guardian in 1976 and moved first to The Independent, then to The Observer, the Sunday Telegraph and finally The Times. Barclay travelled extensively in following the sport’s evolution, attending nine World Cups, ten European Championships and four Africa Cup of Nations. Afterwards he concentrated on writing biographies of football managers: Jose Mourinho, Sir Alex Ferguson, Herbert Chapman and Sir Matt Busby.
Most recently, finally fulfilling a desire for a change of subject, he started work on the life story of Harry Ree, a British hero of the French resistance during the Second World War.
Barclay lives just a couple of miles upriver of Fulham Football Club, where he has a season ticket, although the true love of his football life is, always has been and always will be represented by the dark blue of Dundee.
Steph McGovern
Award winning broadcaster, Steph McGovern is the presenter of the eponymous ’Steph's Packed Lunch’, broadcast daily on Channel 4. Prior to this, Steph worked in financial journalism for over 15 years and spent 7 years as part of the BBC Breakfast family.
Steph travelled all over the UK to cover economic and business news for the BBC and broadcast live from over 500 businesses. Whether talking to workers in factories or interviewing FTSE 100 chief executives in the studio, Steph made it her mission to find out what was going on in the real economy.
Steph also co-presented BBC One’s ‘Watchdog’, Channel 4's 2021 Paralympics coverage, her own primetime BBC One programme ‘Shop Well For Less’ and a children’s TV show 'Pocket Money Pitch' for CBBC.
Sean Keach
Sean Keach is one of the world’s leading technology and science journalists with over a decade of experience in the media industry. He has worked in London and New York for some of the world’s best-known media brands including News Corp, Future Publishing and Time Inc.
Sean has produced thousands of articles on tech and science read by tens of millions of readers around the world. He currently leads an international team of world-class journalists at The Sun and The U.S. Sun as Head of Science and Technology, delivering fast-paced specialist reporting to a global audience. Sean has featured as an expert on TV and radio to talk about technologies of the future, including appearances on Sky News and TalkRadio.
He has covered a wide range of beats including consumer technology, artificial intelligence, space, energy and climate, gaming, cryptocurrency and the metaverse. Sean has interviewed industry leaders, delivered world-first exclusives, and is one of the industry’s most prolific writers.
He was born and raised in Birmingham, England and graduated with a BA Hons Journalism degree from Southampton Solent University.
Lord Sebastian Coe
Lord Coe is the President of World Athletics where he is serving his second term and Non- Executive Chairman of CSM Sport & Entertainment.
As an athlete he won Olympic gold medals in the 1500 metres in 1980 and 1984 and set 12 middle-distance world records. He went on to become a Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne and later chaired the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) delivering the Games in 2012.
Coe retired from athletics in 1990 and two years later was elected as Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne, a seat he held until 1997, when he became Private Secretary to William Hague, the Leader of the Opposition. In 2000 he was appointed a life peer and took the title of Lord Coe of Ranmore.
Coe has four children and has received numerous honours throughout his career. He was the BBC’s sports personality of the year in 1979 and in 1982 he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). Eight years later he was promoted to Officer of the same order (OBE). Following his appointment as a life peer, Coe was promoted to Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) for his services to sport and in the 2013 New Year’s Honours List he was appointed to the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH).
In the Summer of 2020 Lord Coe was approved as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member at its 136th IOC Session.
Professor Sir Andrew Likierman
Andrew is Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School and was its Dean from 2008 to 2017. His current research is in judgement in management.
Andrew has had many non-executive roles, including the Bank of England, Barclays plc, insurance company Beazley plc and the market research firm MORI. He has twice worked in central government, had non-executive roles in local government, the heath service and public enterprises and is a former President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He is currently a Director of a listed Australian pharmaceutical company and a start-up bank.
About INEOS
INEOS is a global manufacturing company making the raw materials and energy used for everyday life. Its products make an indispensable contribution to society by providing the most sustainable options for a wide range of societal needs. For example, preservation of food and clean water; construction of wind turbines, solar panels and other renewable technologies; for construction of lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles and aircraft; for medical devices and applications; for clothing and apparel; and for insulation and other industrial and home applications.
INEOS businesses have put in place the plans and actions needed to ensure that they lead the transition to a net zero economy by no later than 2050, whilst remaining profitable, and staying ahead of evolving regulations and legislation. As part of its greenhouse gas emission reduction strategy, there is a widespread goal to move to a more circular economy, in which materials are re-used to their maximum extent.