Here are the business stories making the headlines both locally and nationally this morning.
The Law Practice acquired by Gilson Gray
Legal firm Gilson Gray has continued its expansion in Aberdeen by acquiring Granite City-based The Law Practice.
The five-strong team at The Law Practice, including previous owner Lesley McKnight, are all relocating from 3 Rubislaw Terrace to Gilson Gray’s office on Blenheim Place. From now on they will be operating under the Gilson Gray brand.
The Press & Journal says Gilson Gray’s latest expansion also sees a new estate agency department added to its offering in the Aberdeen area, complementing a property services arm.
Hunt urged to back North-east carbon capture
UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is facing calls to invest in carbon capture in the north-east to prevent “falling further behind” similar EU projects.
The Acorn project at the St Fergus gas terminal near Peterhead was snubbed by the UK Government in 2021, in favour of sites in England.
Ahead of the next UK budget on March 15, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said he wants to see the chancellor invest in carbon capture in the north-east.
Yellow warnings as snow and ice expected across North-east
Arctic air is expected to bring snow, cold winds and icy conditions to parts of the North-east today.
A Met Office yellow warning began at 6pm yesterday in parts of the region and Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said up to 20cm (4in) of snow could fall on high ground, with up to 10cm possible in low-lying regions.
The weather could disrupt travel and other day-to-day activities, according to the BBC.
One in six first-time buyers will still be paying mortgage in retirement
One in six first-time buyers will still be paying off their mortgage in retirement as families sign up to a lifetime of debt, official figures show.
UK finance data show that 17% of all new mortgages taken out in December were for terms of 35 years or more.
The Telegraph says this is almost double last February's rate, when it was just 9% of home loans. The figures reflect how higher interest rates have forced people to sign longer mortgage deals as a way of reducing monthly payments amid surging property prices and the cost of living crisis.
They also show how the traditional 25-year mortgage has become less popular. Around 55% of mortgage loans are now taken out for terms of 30 years or more, compared with just 9% in 2005.
Bottle deposit scheme ‘will mean higher prices and fewer choices’
Shoppers face a “stratospheric” risk of higher prices for drinks and fewer products on the shelves, retailers have warned as the planned deposit return scheme is engulfed in chaos only five months before it goes live.
The Scottish Retail Consortium, which represents Scotland’s retail sector, said there remained a “long list” of issues with the Scottish government’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) that could take months to resolve.
With retailers and shoppers confused by how the scheme will operate, ministers should abandon the proposed start date of August, the SRC told The Times.
Rishi Sunak’s £250m mission to put UK at heart of tech revolution
The government is to invest £250million in artificial intelligence and other “transformational technologies” as part of an effort to safeguard Britain’s standing as a scientific leader.
Rishi Sunak will argue that advances in AI are already fuelling a transformation of society “as important as the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century”.
The prime minister believes if Britain is not at the forefront of this global shift it “will fall behind as other countries see an explosion in productivity, jobs and improved quality of life”.
The funding, expected to be announced on Tuesday, will assist research on quantum computers, which have the potential to be many times more powerful than those used at present.
It will also go towards “engineering biology” — a term generally understood to include techniques such as genetic editing, which could be used to create new drugs and “climate-proof” crop varieties.
Belmont Cinema could reopen for special screenings of Tetris movie
A north-east film director wants to bring the closure-hit Belmont Filmhouse back to life with the release of his new movie Tetris.
Jon S Baird says the independent cinema, which closed last October when the company that ran it went into administration, would be the perfect place to show off his latest film.
The Apple TV+ production stars Taron Egerton and tells the origin story of the popular Nintendo videogame.
It was partly filmed in Aberdeen and is due for release at the end of this month.
UK greenhouse gas emissions fall faster than global average
Britain’s greenhouse gas emissions fell by more than 3% last year, much faster than the global average.
However, experts said the decrease must be repeated every year for decades to meet the country’s net zero target, a pace they warned would be “incredibly challenging”.
Emissions fell by 3.4 per cent in 2022, as coronavirus restrictions were relaxed, an analysis of official government data reveals. The drop leaves Britain’s emissions at 412 million tonnes of CO2, meaning the nation is roughly halfway to its legally binding goal of net zero emissions by 2050.