Sir Jim Ratcliffe has called on Europe’s leaders to save the continent’s chemicals industry or risk losing millions of jobs. The founder and chairman of Ineos has urged politicians to make an “eleventh-hour intervention” at what he has described as a “moment of reckoning” for the industry.

THE WHEELS have fallen off Manchester United this season — and Sir Jim Ratcliffe likens them to a Formula One car. Red Devils’ co-owner Ratcliffe, whose Ineos group is the principal partner of the

Jim Ratcliffe insists he will not take a “knee-jerk” decision to sack Ruben Amorim and has indicated he will afford the head coach three years to demonstrate his capabilities at Manchester United.

Amorim has won just 19 of his 50 matches in charge of United following his appointment in November of last year.

It has been nearly seven months since Manchester United revealed their plans to build an ambitious new 100,000-seater stadium on the same site as Old Trafford with a glitzy video presented by world-famous architect Norman Foster.

Even with record matchday and commercial growth, they are falling behind rivals. Liverpool are expected to surpass £700million in turnover, and Arsenal could soon overtake them. Across six years, United’s revenue has grown by just 1.02 per cent annually. For a club built on global dominance, treading water is as dangerous as sinking.

The high point of Manchester United's season has been the unveiling of a new training complex for the first team.