Ineos has gone through a few changes since its founding in the 1990s. Once known for buying tarnished petrochemical assets and polishing them until they gleam – as long as the economy is booming – more recently it seems to have morphed into the fracking industry’s standard bearer.

The company’s newest diversification drive has nothing to do with chemicals. Possibly, majority owner Jim Ratcliffe has decided that a guy with a Swiss bank account can do more than dream. And as he stands to profit from the pound’s downward curve, he can “Buy British”, perhaps as restitution for moving headquarters to Switzerland.

It’s hard to get more British than the Land Rover “Defender”, the now defunct off-road vehicle Ratcliffe plans to begin producing again in a company owned by Ineos and managed by one of its former executives. If caught in the rain, the off-roader’s drivers can don the iconic Belstaff waterproof motorcycle jackets – Ineos is buying that company, too.

What the meanwhile iconic tycoon wants with Swiss football club Lausanne Sport is less obvious. But if enough cash is injected, maybe the team will move to the top of the league, and Ineos’ ex-managers can apply their polishing experience to trophies.