Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Multi-million-pound price tag on Aberdeen city centre petrol station
One of Aberdeen’s few city centre petrol stations has been put on the market as a prime investment opportunity for £2.35million.
The site on North Esplanade West overlooks the River Dee, by The Queen Elizabeth Bridge, at one of the city’s busiest junctions.
Agents describe it as one of very few filling stations within the city centre and expect strong interest from investors.
Read more on the P&J website.
Tesco warns 'enough is enough' on business taxes
The boss of Britain’s biggest supermarket group has told Rachel Reeves that “enough is enough”, amid fears that further tax rises may land on an industry already suffering from the timing of her delayed autumn budget.
Ken Murphy, chief executive of Tesco, said his “one ask” for the chancellor’s November budget was: “Don’t make it harder for the industry to deliver great value for customers.”
Retailers have been grappling with a £7billion rise in costs after increases to employers’ national insurance contributions and the minimum wage announced in Reeves’s maiden budget last year. Tesco expects a £1billion increase in its employment bill over four years because of the rise in national insurance.
OpenAI overtakes SpaceX with $500bn valuation
OpenAI has overtaken Elon Musk’s SpaceX as the world’s most valuable start-up after completing a deal that valued the artificial intelligence company at $500billion.
The new valuation comes after OpenAI allowed current and former employees of the company to sell about $6.6billion of their stock in a secondary share sale. In July, SpaceX was valued at $400billion, following an insider share sale in which Musk’s company bought back as much as $1.25billion worth of shares from staff and other holders.
In March, OpenAI reached a valuation of $300billion following a $40billion financing led by SoftBank Group. The Japanese technology investor reportedly provided 75% of the funding, while the remaining quarter was contributed by other investors, including Microsoft, Coatue Management, Altimeter Capital and Thrive Capital.
Click here to read more.
Baroness Mone accuses chancellor of 'inflammatory' language
Baroness Michelle Mone has accused the chancellor of using "dangerous and inflammatory" language after a firm linked to her and her husband was ordered to pay £122million for breaching a Covid-19 personal protective equipment (PPE) contract.
During a fringe event at Labour's party conference this week, Rachel Reeves reportedly joked the government had a vendetta against the peer.
In a letter to the prime minister, Baroness Mone said her language was "incendiary and has directly increased the risks to my personal safety". She claimed she received "threats and abuse" on social media since Reeves' remarks.