Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK today.
Oil will top $100 a barrel again this year
Oil will rise back above $100 a barrel this year and may face a serious supply problem in 2024 as spare production capacity runs out, according to Goldman Sachs.
With sanctions likely to cause Russian oil exports to drop and Chinese demand expected to recover as the country ends its Covid Zero policy, prices will rise above $100 from their current level of around $80, according to Goldman.
A lack of spending in the industry on production needed to meet demand will also be a driver of higher prices, and this lack of capacity may become a big issue by 2024, analyst Jeff Currie said on the sidelines of a conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
Mortgage lending set to fall to lowest growth since 2011
Growth in mortgage lending is set to fall this year to its lowest level in more than a decade.
According to the EY Item Club, a leading forecasting body, home loans will grow by only 0.4%, the lowest rate since 2011.
It thinks a fall in demand will be exacerbated by a tightening of banks’ lending criteria, amid higher interest rates, a weak economic outlook and falling house prices. It expects demand for houses to pick up slightly in 2024.
Working from home is fuelling fraud epidemic, warn managers
Working from home is fuelling a fraud epidemic, with a growing number of staff falling victim to scams related to their employers.
Research by accountants BDO found almost nine in 10 of mid-sized businesses it surveyed had become victims of fraud in 2022, with average losses totalling £219,000 per firm. More than one quarter of these firms also fell victim to fraud at least twice.
Almost four fifths of bosses blame remote and “hybrid” working practices for putting them at greater risk, BDO said.
Kaley Crossthwaite, the accountancy company’s head of fraud, told The Telegraph that working from home left employees more exposed to “social engineering” practices used by criminals to lull them into a false sense of security.
Hunt’s misguided policies will harm economy, warns ex-Tory business minister
Former Tory business secretary Greg Clark has urged Jeremy Hunt to abandon plans to slash tax breaks for research spending, which investors fear will damage growth.
Mr Clark, who chairs the Commons science and technology committee, said the Chancellor’s decision to cut research and development (R&D) tax credits was based on faulty data and would harm the economy.
In November’s Autumn Statement, the Chancellor slashed R&D tax credits after being told by HM Revenue and Customs that £469million had been lost to fraudulent claims. The changes come into force from April.
However, Mr Clark, who was business minister under Theresa May, said the Chancellor must “reassess” the decision, which was informed by wrong data.
Bonfire of EU laws will let ministers bypass parliament, warn peers
Rishi Sunak’s plans for a bonfire of EU laws could be “disastrous” and would enable ministers to bypass parliament, a cross-party group of peers has warned.
In a letter to The Times, peers including former Tory and Labour cabinet ministers, Liberal Democrats and a former lord chief justice warn that the government’s plans are “rushed and chaotic” and will diminish the role of MPs and peers.
The prime minister has pledged to scrap, amend or retain all EU-derived laws by the end of the year.
As many as 4,000 pieces of legislation on the British statute books are derived from EU laws, but the government has yet to state which are in scope.
Britishvolt set to be bought by Australian firm
An Australian firm has been named as the preferred bidder for Britishvolt, the UK battery start-up which collapsed last month.
Recharge Industries, which is owned by New York fund Scale Facilitation Partners, has entered an agreement to buy Britishvolt's business and assets, according to the BBC.
Britishvolt was put into administration after running out of money. It had planned to build a giant factory to make electric car batteries in Blyth, Northumberland.
EY, the accountancy firm and administrator to Britishvolt which has been overseeing the sale, said: "Completion of the acquisition is expected to occur within the next seven days."
Coal power on standby as freezing temperatures hit
A coal-fired power station is on standby to produce electricity this week because the temperature and wind are expected to drop, The Times reports.
High pressure is also giving people headaches and interfering with mobile phone signals and television and radio.
The National Grid has required one of the “winter contingency coal units” to be “warmed” to provide a back-up supply as wind turbines stand idle.