It took John Swinney two and a half months to secure a key meeting with Sir Jim Ratcliffe on the future for workers at Grangemouth - and the billionaire only spared half an hour of his time on a video call.

The first minister wrote to the Ineos chair and chief executive on 6 February asking to meet him at a "very early opportunity" to discuss "a way forward that protects employment at Grangemouth".

But despite an offer from Swinney to travel to meet Ratcliffe in person, the Scottish Government could only secure a 30-minute meeting on Microsoft Teams with him on 25 April.

That was 78 days after Swinney contacted Ratcliffe - who ranked at number seven on the Sunday Times rich list and is reportedly worth over £17bn - and just four days before it was announced the century-old refinery at Grangemouth had processed its last oil.

The Ferret has also obtained internal Scottish Government documents which say ministers only found out about the end of refining at Grangemouth from media reports. Around four hundred people employed at the site are losing their jobs.

The Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) questioned how the Scottish Government could deliver a fair energy transition for workers when it "can't get a meeting in the diary" with key business leaders.

One MSP claimed Ratcliffe seemed happy to be a "pantomime villain" but added that it does not "seem like either a just transition or the wider future of Scotland's economy" is at the top of Swinney's "in-tray".

It is no surprise that Sir Jim Ratcliffe has so little respect for the workers and communities impacted by the closure of his refinery at Grangemouth that he won't spare more than a few minutes of his time to discuss it with the first minister.

Catrina Randall, Friends of the Earth Scotland

An Ineos spokesperson said the company's track record "speaks louder than any headline" and it was "no secret that the diaries of senior political and business leaders are extremely demanding". They accused The Ferret of trying to "manufacture a controversy out of nothing".

The Scottish Government said it was committed to securing a "sustainable future" for Grangemouth and had committed £87m to protecting jobs at the site.

The findings come from correspondence released to The Ferret following a freedom of information (FOI) request.

In his letter to Ratcliffe on 6 February Swinney said he was "willing to travel" for a meeting and do so "at the earliest opportunity".

The Ferret requested Sir Jim Ratcliffe's response to this letter but was told by the Scottish Government that it did not hold a reply from Ineos to Swinney. We also asked for all correspondence between Ineos and the Scottish Government on the back of the letter.

Documents released show the first minister again wrote to the Manchester United co-owner on 21 February outlining Scottish Government financial backing for new proposals at Grangemouth. Swinney wrote he was "committed to working" with Ineos and urged the company to "live up" to its "responsibilities as a responsible business".

Subsequent emails, which are partially redacted, show Scottish Government officials and an Ineos representative - whose email sign off says they are based in Monte Carlo, where Ratcliffe reportedly owns a home - trying to find a date for a meeting over the course of a number of weeks in late March and early April.

These included 'chaser' emails sent by the Scottish Government to Ineos after they had not received a response. In one email, the Scottish Government notes that a meeting at the beginning of March had "unfortunately" not gone ahead.

Most of the details of the meeting that eventually took place on 25 April are redacted, but partial minutes do show Ineos arguing the refinery was "aged and loss making" and Ratcliffe expressing "concern about carbon taxes and energy costs".

The Grangemouth refinery is owned by Petroineos, a joint venture between Ratcliffe's firm and PetroChina, which is owned by the Chinese government.

It was announced...