Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.

Weekend of vandalism in Aberdeen

Trees have been damaged in Scotland’s favourite park in a weekend of vandalism in Aberdeen.

Dog walkers were left dismayed yesterday morning after they found ornamental trees in Seaton Park’s floral displays scattered across the gardens.

The Press and Journal says plants were snapped and tilted, while others were fully ripped out of their beds and dumped nearby.

The popular Aberdeen park on the banks of River Don was crowned the most-loved in the country following a nationwide vote last year.

Meanwhile, police have launched an investigation after 16 cars, as well as an electrical vehicle charger, were also damaged in four different locations across Aberdeen.

The culprits targeted vehicles parked on Whitehouse Street, Skene Street, Carden Place and Union Glen, damaging wing mirrors and windscreen wipers.

British firms less open to hiring older workers

New research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) suggests firms are much less open to hiring older workers than they are to bringing in younger talent.

Yet, at the same time, the UK Chancellor is urging people who retired early to return to work.

Jeremy Hunt says there were almost 300,000 fewer people in employment than before the pandemic - and he warned firms would find it difficult to grow if they could not find enough staff.

"So, to those who retired early after the pandemic, or haven't found the right role after furlough, I say: Britain needs you," Mr Hunt said.

But the CMI, a professional body focusing on management and leadership, warns that to bring more older workers back into the workforce, employers will also need to "shift their attitudes" towards hiring.

The CMI surveyed more than 1,000 managers working in UK businesses and public services.

The BBC says just four out of 10 were open "to a large extent" to hiring people aged between 50 and 64.

The study found that most employers were more open to hiring workers in younger age groups.

Almost three-quarters of managers were open to a large extent to hiring younger workers between the ages of 18 and 34.

Slightly fewer, 64%, were very open to hiring those aged between 34 and 49.

The number dropped furthest for applicants in the over-65 group. Just 18% of managers said they were open to a large extent to hiring people in that category.

Norway moves to protect electricity supplies

Norway, one of the UK's largest sources of electricity imports, has now moved to protect its own supplies in a move that could lead to its exports being blocked in a crisis.

Oslo has confirmed measures to preserve the levels of its hydropower reservoirs after weather pushed them to record lows.

Jonas Gahr Stoere, the prime minister, said: "We want to ensure there is always enough power in our sockets (at home) and we should have enough power for our industry."

The measures announced on Friday formalise procedures put in place previously.

The Telegraph says hydro power producers will be responsible for maintaining water reservoirs at a certain level.

Bidders for Britishvolt

A Norwegian battery company is circling the collapsed UK start-up Britishvolt amid a bidding war that has attracted five potential suitors.

A fire sale of the failed "gigafactory" company, which had been aiming to build a battery plant near Blyth, Northumberland, has attracted multiple bids in a process run by administrator EY.

The Telegraph understands that Freyr, a Norwegian battery maker backed by the US billionaire Charles Koch, is among those interested.

Bidders were required to submit non-binding proposals last week, with an Australian start-up run by entrepreneur David Collard the only party to have confirmed its interest.

A £30million offer from Recharge Industries, which is owned by Mr Collard's New York-based investment company Scale Facilitation, was reported to have made the cut. A bid from current investors was also reported to have made it through the first round.

Better news on energy bills

Household bills could fall by more than £750 from July as estimates continue to tumble for how the energy price cap will look later in the year.

Investec has again lowered its estimate for what the typical household will pay annually on energy bills from July, reducing its best guess from £2,465 to £2,247.

The Telegraph says it is the third time forecasts for energy bills have been slashed this month as a mild winter and high levels of storage in Europe send natural gas prices plummeting.

Short seller criticised

The company owned by Asia's richest man Gautam Adani has issued a detailed rebuttal of allegations of wrongdoing by short seller Hindenburg Research.

In a document, which runs to more than 400 pages, Adani Group says the report is a "calculated attack on India".

But Hindenburg said "Adani failed to specifically answer 62 of our 88 questions" detailed by it.

Adani, an Indian conglomerate, had more than £40billiion wiped off its stock market value last week.

The BBC
says Adani Group accused the Hindenburg report of being intended to enable the US-based short seller to book gains, without citing evidence.

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