Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Aberdeen’s EthosEnergy acquires New York turbine firm with ‘hopefully more’ M&A to come
Aberdeen-based EthosEnergy has completed its acquisition of New York-headquartered gas turbine firm Turbine Services, Ltd. (TSL).
This marks the first takeover the firm has made since it was bought by a US private equity firm, One Equity Partners (OEP), on the last day of 2024.
At the time, EthosEnergy chief executive Ana Amicarella said that OEP had indicated a strong appetite for merger and acquisition (M&A) deals to expand the business.
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Haribo recalls bags of sweets in Netherlands after cannabis found
Haribo is recalling packets of sweets in the Netherlands after some were found to contain traces of cannabis.
Several people, including multiple members of one family, reported feeling unwell after eating from a 1kg pack of Haribo Happy Cola F!ZZ.
A spokesperson for the food safety body in the Netherlands (NVWA) said some had reported "dizziness" after eating the sweets. The agency told Dutch broadcaster SBS6, external that "samples were taken and cannabis was found in them".
Nationwide to hand members £100 after rise in profits
Millions of members of Nationwide will be handed a £100 cash bonus for a third consecutive year after profits at Britain’s biggest building society were buoyed by its takeover of Virgin Money and a mortgages boom.
Nationwide said its latest so-called “fairer share” payout will total about £410million and will go to the more than four million eligible customers with a current account and either a savings account or mortgage with the mutual.
The payout was disclosed in the building society’s full-year results on Thursday, in which the customer-owned group said it had delivered a record £2.8billion of value for its members in the 12 months to the end of March.
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Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary lands historic €100m bonus
Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary has earned a bonus worth more than €100million (£84m) after the discount carrier’s shares cleared a key performance target.
The Irishman qualified for the mammoth payout on Thursday after Ryanair stock traded above the specified level of €21 for a 28th straight day, closing at €23.74.
Mr O’Leary now stands to receive 10m shares for €11.12 apiece, or €111.2m in total. Based on Thursday’s closing price, the stock would be worth €237million, bagging a paper profit of €126million.
Call to scrap ‘cruel’ livestock parade at Royal Highland Show
A “cruel” livestock parade at Scotland’s largest agricultural show should be scrapped, animal rights activists have claimed, and a statue erected in memory of farm animals instead.
For decades horses, cows and sheep have been marched through the centre of the annual Royal Highland Show at Ingliston, Edinburgh, every summer.
Now People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), a US-based campaign group, has written to the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society Scotland (RHASS) urging them to “march the show into the 21st century” and “scrap the cruel, archaic grand parade”.
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