Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.
Britain could face record gas and petrol prices
UK Ministers have been warned that they will have to contend with record-breaking gas and petrol prices in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Times reports that senior government officials expect Russia to "weaponise" its natural resources by restricting supplies of gas to Europe if the West carries out its threat to impose sanctions.
Ministers have been involved in top-level discussions to assess the impact that a reduced supply of gas from Russia would have on prices in Britain.
The senior officials say that there is no direct risk of gas shortages, but the conflict would push prices from the present historic highs to new record levels.
About half of British gas supplies come from the North Sea and a third through pipelines from Norway. The remainder consists almost entirely of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which arrive in Britain by sea.
The fear is that LNG supplies in particular could be subject to huge increases in price as they are sold to the highest bidder, with ships even changing direction to sell to the most profitable markets.
Other European countries are far more dependent than Britain on Russian gas. About 40% of Germany's supplies come from Russia while countries such as Sweden and Finland are almost entirely reliant.
The Treasury is drawing up measures to help UK consumers cope with existing high prices when Ofgem increases the energy price cap in April. One option is to allow energy companies to borrow money to keep bills low. That money would be repaid by reducing bills more gradually than usual when wholesale gas and electricity prices fell.
Plans for bigger Albyn Hospital rejected
Councillors have thrown out plans for the expansion of a private Aberdeen hospital, says the Press and Journal.
The Press & Journal reports that a proposal to expand the Albyn Hospital with new operating and patient facilities was recommended for approval to councillors ahead of last week’s meeting.
However, the plans were rejected by councillors on the city's planning committee.
Councillor Martin Greig, who seconded the proposal to reject them, raised concerns about the "overdevelopment" of the garden area behind Albyn Place.
The proposals for Albyn Hospital included three new patient rooms, a fourth operating theatre and a recovery ward.
UK’s first gigafactory in batteries deal for electric sports cars
Britishvolt, the company building the UK’s first gigafactory, has struck a deal to start producing its first batteries.
The Times reports the cell packs that are likely to find their way into the new generation of electric sports cars being developed by Lotus.
Last week the start-up secured up to £2 billion of project financing from Scottish investment house abrdn and the UK taxpayer for construction of the gigafactory at Blyth on the Northumberland coast, which could produce enough battery cells to power 300,000 zero-emission new cars a year.
Click here to read more.