The business reporters are from the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Ineos chairman and founder Jim RatcliffeImage source, Getty Images

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is one of the richest men in the UK. He would like to purchase Manchester United.

The founder of Ineos is interested in buying a piece of the club.

United are bottom of the league after losing their first two games of the season.

The team's poor start has led to criticism of the team's owners.

Since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, the club has not been able to win a trophy.

Sir Jim was a fan of United when he was a child.

Jim is a potential buyer if the club is sold.

We would be interested in talking with someone about long-term ownership.

It's a familiar tactic for the man who used to be called Dr No by trade unions.

Sir Jim has built up a huge fortune by buying up cast-off parts of other businesses.

He is the 27th wealthiest person in the UK according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

From operations once owned by the likes of oil giant BP, Sir Jim created a company called Ineos, whose chemicals and raw materials go into nearly everything we touch.

Ineos has sales of around £50 billion and employs more than 25,000 people.

Its raw materials are used in a wide range of things.

Sir Jim has been in the industry for a long time.

After graduating with a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Birmingham, he went to work for a rival oil business as an accountant and then went back to school to get a degree in chemistry.

Sir Jim moved to fabric and chemicals producer Courtaulds after graduating from the London Business School and went on to become a private equity investor.

Sir Jim was given the chance to learn the ropes of doing deals.

He jumped into co-owning a business based on a well-worn strategy after just three years.

The two businessmen decided to buy the chemicals division of the oil company in 1992. When it floated on the London Stock Exchange it was worth 100 million dollars.

The business acquired the speciality chemicals business from the company.

Ineos bought the Belgian business from Inspec for £89m in 1998. Ineos became a chemical powerhouse.

The majority shareholder of Ineos, Mr Ratcliffe, has been able to move quickly on deals because he never floated the company.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Ineos reversed a plan to close its Grangemouth plant in 2013

The most important of these deals was Ineos's takeover of the oil and gas business.

It doubled its staff numbers to 15,000 and its sales to more than 18 billion dollars.

Grangemouth was the scene of a tense stand-off with trade unions threatening strike action over pay and pensions in 2013).

Ineos announced that it would close the plant and cut 800 jobs as a result of the dispute.

Ineos reversed its decision after the Unite union agreed to invest $300m in the plant.

Ineos has expanded through acquisitions such as buying the Forties Pipeline System from BP or investing into controversial areas.

It wanted to build a test site to show that the process can be done safely.

The technique was halted in the UK due to opposition from green groups and the recent rise in the cost of energy.

Sir Jim said that the UK was in the middle of an energy crisis.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption, Ineos bought the motorcycle wear maker Belstaff

Sir Jim's business interests are no longer related to chemicals. He said that he was going to build a new vehicle based on the Land Rover Defender.

In 2020, Sir Jim said that the new 4x4 vehicle would be built in France, ending hopes that it would be made in Wales.

Belstaff, the luxury motorcycle wear maker, was bought by Ineos in the summer of 2017.

Sir Jim became the new owner of a professional cycling team after Ineos took over. Ineos is the team's new name.

Sir Jim clearly saw a lot of potential in these businesses, even though it's not certain whether or not they could be classified as 'unloved'.

After Roman Abramovich put the London club up for sale, Sir Jim tried to buy it.

He said at the time that he wasn't bidding for Manchester United because they weren't for sale.

Sir Jim and Ineos have partnerships with the Mercedes F1 team.