Britain's second biggest oil refinery is in crisis talks with tax officials amid fears it could be on the brink of collapse.
Bosses behind Stanlow Oil Refinery, in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, are in urgent talks with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over a £223million VAT payment.
The refinery, which has been under financial strain during the Covid pandemic, needs to start repaying the bill this week unless it can agree a new deal, according to the Sunday Times.
Owned by the billionaire Ruia brothers, Shashi and Ravi, through their company Essar Oil UK, the refinery supplies about a sixth of Britain's road fuel. It is also supplies jet fuel for Manchester and Birmingham airports.
Around 900 people are employed directly at the refinery and around 800 contractors also work on site.
It also comes as Britain faces a fuel crisis, with the petrol stations having to shut and panic buying erupting after petrol chiefs announced they would have to close pumps as a knock on from the UK’s lorry driver shortage.
Bosses behind Stanlow Oil refinery (pictured), in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, are said to be in urgent talks with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) over a £223million VAT bill
Owned by the billionaire Ruia brothers, Shashi (pictured left) and Ravi (pictured right), through their company Essar Oil UK, the refinery supplies about a sixth of Britain's road fuel. It is also supplies jet fuel for Manchester and Birmingham airports.
The refinery's VAT bill built during the pandemic under the Government's Covid VAT deferral scheme.
The scheme, launched in March last year, allowed firms to defer VAT payments to help businesses stay afloat during the first Covid lockdown.
But businesses were ordered to either pay back the money by March 2021, join an interest free instalment scheme stretching to June, or make arrangements with HMRC to push back the payments.
Essar Oil UK is said to have taken advantage of the scheme, to the tune of £356million.
It agreed a deal earlier this year
