Sir Jim Ratcliffe has explained his three-word philosophy for success after securing a minority stake in Manchester United.
Ratcliffe and his INEOS group paid more than £1billion for 27.7 per cent of the club, which will rise to close to 30 per cent following a further £238million injection into the Premier League giants.
His involvement with the Red Devils has given fans a fresh sense of hope after years of frustration aimed at the Glazer family, who had initially been open to selling their full stake in the club.
The 71-year-old has spoken on a variety of topics around United, from refurbishing Old Trafford to improving on-field performances, but put it simply when explaining how he has build his success.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has explained his three-word philosophy after becoming minority owner of Manchester United
The Brit made it clear that he intends to improve the club having taken over 27.7 per cent of it
Ratcliffe is keen to transfer the values that have made his energy company INEOS successful
‘We have three words that we use in INEOS, which I think encapsulate INEOS really well,’ the Brit told MUTV on Thursday. ‘Grit, rigour and humour. I think that a lot of that applies to football.
‘Grit, you definitely need grit. You saw that in Barcelona in [the Champions League final in] 1999, they played to the last minute. Rigour is putting yourself into training, doing things well and properly.
‘And there’s always a bit of adversity in life, so you need a sense of humour. Also you spend a lot of time there [at work], so you need to enjoy it.
‘Then the other strapline in INEOS, which sort of underpins grit, rigour and humour, is manners, and I think that’s really important as well.’
Ratcliffe was keen to transfer the key values in INEOS to United after talking down the current standards at the club.
He heaped praise on his workers at the energy company, before revealing he is aiming for the same when he gets stuck in at United.
He explained that grit, rigour and humour underpin his philosophies, as well as being well-mannered
Ratcliffe became a billionaire through INEOS and said ‘things that relate to the working environment equally apply to a football club’
‘People in INEOS, for whatever reason, they don’t leave,’ he added. ‘We’ve had very, very few people of the senior management, the executive, ever leave INEOS and they do tend to work on, quite late in life.
But I think it’s quite a challenging environment in INEOS. We’re very focused on being successful, but it’s quite a supportive and friendly and humorous place, so I think people obviously enjoy it.
‘And I think a lot of those things that relate to the working environment equally apply to a football club.
