Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Toughest time to get a mortgage in 15 years
Banks are bracing for a surge in mortgage defaults as the availability of home loans fell to its lowest level outside of the pandemic in 15 years.
Lenders are becoming more anxious about giving out loans as the downturn intensifies, a survey by the Bank of England shows, signalling troubles are far from over for Britain's housing market.
The Telegraph reports that it comes as house prices fell for the first time in over a year from October to November, marking a 0.3pc drop, data from the Office For National Statistics (ONS) showed.
Rail workers given fresh pay offer in dispute
Rail workers have been given a fresh pay offer by train companies in a bid to end long-running strike action.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) has made the new offer to the RMT union following talks over the past week.
The deal includes a backdated pay rise of 5%, up from a previous offer of 4% for 2022, and a 4% increase this year. But the deal depends on changes to working conditions.
The RMT told the BBC it was "considering" the matter.
Soaring inflation ‘as bad as Covid’ for hospitality sector
The casualty rate for pubs and restaurants in the pandemic is being matched by hospitality sector failures because of inflation, The Times says.
Inflation in energy bills, wages and other costs caused a net decline of 4,809 licensed premises last year, a higher tally than 2021.
The Hospitality Market Monitor published today by AlixPartners and CGA by NielsenIQ, shows the sector has 13,037 venues fewer than in March 2020 when Covid restrictions curtailed trading, a decline of 10 per cent in less than three years.
The closure rate, which is net of openings, is equal to 13 sites being lost every day since March 2020, although in the final quarter of 2022 the net decline accelerated to 1,611, or 18 a day, as energy, food and other costs rose.
Jeremy Hunt wants 5p fuel duty cut to run year longer
Jeremy Hunt wants to extend the 5p cut in the price of petrol and diesel for another year if the economic outlook improves, having accepted that there is a “strong precedent” for freezing fuel duty.
The Times has been told that the chancellor is minded to extend the reduction in his spring budget should the public finances allow, amid concerns that imposing additional costs on motorists would be “politically toxic”.
He is also facing pressure to freeze fuel duty for another year, in line with Tory policy since 2011. However, the decision on whether to push ahead with the two measures — which would cost £6 billion between them — is dependent on inflation falling and economic growth recovering.
Bitcoin is a ‘hyped-up fraud’, says JP Morgan chief
The billionaire chairman of JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon, has called Bitcoin a “hyped-up fraud” and the financial equivalent of a “pet rock” as financial chiefs turn against digital currencies.
Mr Dimon called cryptocurrencies a “waste of time” in comments, reported by the Daily Telegraph, at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
However, he said the technology behind Bitcoin, known as a blockchain, could have uses. This kind of digital ledger is designed to be difficult to alter or hack and enables the creation of a public record of transactions.
Hydrogen-powered 19-seater plane takes off in world first
A hydrogen-powered 19-seater plane has flown in the skies above the Cotswolds in what its makers claim is a world-first.
ZeroAvia, an Anglo-US startup backed by Shell and United Airlines, conducted a test flight of its Dornier 228 aircraft on Thursday. It claims that the 19-seater is the biggest plane powered with a hydrogen-electric engine to take to the skies.
The aircraft, which has a hydrogen-electric engine on one wing and a jet fuel-powered turboprop engine on the other, took off from the Cotswold Airport in Gloucestershire at 1.15pm and was in the air for six minutes.
Dunelm defies doommongers with a very merry Christmas
Strong demand for electric blankets and heated indoor airers helped Dunelm to defy expectations of a drop-off in sales over autumn and winter.
In the final three months of 2022, the homewares retailer sold £478million of goods, 18% more than in the same period a year earlier.
The strong performance in the run up to Christmas, often referred to as “the golden quarter of retail”, meant that Dunelm’s sales in the first half of its financial year, which began in July, rose 5 per cent year on year to £835 million.
Glasgow 'at risk of industry exodus' after freeports snub
Heavy manufacturing and haulage firms will look to quit the west of Scotland after its bid for a green freeport was unsuccessful, the leader of Glasgow city council fears.
Susan Aitken is worried that the selection by Westminster and Holyrood of bids in the Cromarty Firth and along the Firth of Forth will drive a shift in activity from other areas.
In a letter to Michael Gove, the levelling-up secretary, and John Swinney, the deputy first minister, Aitken said the risk of displacement was “extremely significant and deeply concerning”.