Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the wider UK this morning.
New Aberdeen market will be named Flint
Aberdeen’s new £40million international food market is to be named ‘Flint’ after more than 400 suggestions from the public.
The name was inspired by the heritage of The Green, which perhaps remains unknown to many Aberdonians. More than 8,000 years ago, the area was a prominent hub for flint working, where ancient craftsmen honed tools for hunting and fishing.
The market will be the first of its kind in the Granite City, boasting a choice of 10 vendors and stalls for artworks, jewellery and other crafts.
It will also have an outdoor area for events and seasonal “pop up” markets, as well as annual festival, which is hoped to make it “an exhilarating entertainment destination” .
Click here to see the new branding in the Press & Journal.
Labour MP’s anger at government over Grangemouth closure
A Scottish Labour MP has criticised his party for not doing enough to save the Grangemouth oil refinery.
Earlier this week, some workers at the site were sent redundancy letters by their employer, Petroineos. The site is Scotland’s only oil refinery, and is expected to close by the summer.
Brian Leishman, Labour MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, said he was angry at the UK Government, as well as other parties involved.
He said the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, had been “very quiet on the issue”.
Leishman continued: “The wider Scottish Labour party needs to do an awful lot more as well and that goes right up to the prime minister down in Downing Street as well, he’s got to do an awful lot more.”
Worst jobs slump since pandemic in wake of Budget ‘gloom’
New job openings have fallen at their fastest pace since the pandemic amid widespread “gloom” in the wake of Rachel Reeves’s Budget.
The volume of permanent vacancies in the UK dropped for the 15th month in a row in January and at the fastest pace since August 2020, according to KPMG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC). Vacancies for temporary workers also fell sharply.
The Chancellor’s tax raid on employers’ National Insurance contributions was blamed for the slowdown, as was Angela Rayner’s overhaul of workers’ rights.
Click here to read more in The Telegraph.
Trump to announce raft of new trade tariffs
President Donald Trump has said he will announce a 25% import tax on all steel and aluminium entering the US, a move that will have the biggest impact in Canada.
Trump also said that there would be an announcement later in the week about reciprocal tariffs on all countries that tax imports from the US, but he did not specify which nations would be targeted, or if there would be any exemptions.
“If they charge us, we charge them,” Trump said.
He told reporters of his plans while traveling from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida to the Super Bowl in New Orleans on Sunday.
Click here to read more on the BBC.
Baltic states begin historic switch away from Russian grid
More than three decades after leaving the Soviet Union, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have begun to unplug from Russia’s electricity grid and join the EU’s network.
The two-day process began on Saturday morning, with residents told to charge their devices, stock up on food and water, and prepare as if severe weather is forecast.
Many have been told not to use lifts – while in some areas traffic lights will be turned off.
Click here to read more on the BBC.
Thousands of North and North-east marine energy jobs at risk without ‘significant investment’
The North and North-east risk losing out on tens of thousands of tidal stream and wave energy jobs without “significant coordinated investment.”
A new report says Scotland’s position as a global leader in tidal stream and wave energy could deliver more than 60,000 jobs and an £8billion economic prize by 2050.
The majority of these jobs will be in the Highlands and Islands, with the potential for offshore workers to shift away from oil and gas.