Here are the top business stories making the headlines in the morning newspapers.
Shell boost for Chapel Street businesses
Staff at the new Shell HQ on Aberdeen’s Union Street are still bedding into their city centre home.
But for the Ross bakery on nearby Chapel Street, the impact of up to 1,000 potential new customers has been immediate.
“We’ve been getting orders in from them for hot pie savouries, bacon rolls and things like that,” said owner David Ross. The latest order pulled in £300 - a healthy result for an independent business.
With the oil and gas giant deciding against a staff canteen, Chapel Street has certainly become busier.
A few doors down the road at The Atrium, co-owner Ryan Clark is hailing another decision by Shell management – to use the multi-storey opposite his restaurant as the company’s main car park.
“The staff are all walking past the restaurant,” he told the Press & Journal. “We’re seeing a lot more walk-ins and lunch is getting a fair bit busier.”
Hole found on deck of North Sea rig
Health inspectors have found a hole in the deck of a North Sea rig – which appeared the same day a worker went missing and sparked a huge search off Aberdeen.
The body of 50-year-old Jason Thomas has not been found following the January 22 incident on the Valaris 121.
A trade union boss told Energy Voice that the hole discovery backed up initial fears that Mr Thomas fell through the opening on the rig, though the circumstances have not been confirmed by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
According to an improvement notice from inspectors, a section of grating on the Valaris 121 dislodged, putting employees at risk of “falling through the subsequent hole”.
HSE said it is continuing to investigate the circumstances, and no further detail will be disclosed during that time.
Jake Molloy, of the RMT, said: “We couldn’t say it publicly at the time obviously because we had to let the regulators investigate and it would have been wrong to speculate, but the HSE findings on gratings confirm that our fears were fully verified. We were told early on that it had appeared that Mr Thomas had gone through a gap in the gratings.
“How that came to be there is still the subject of investigation and, while again it would be unfair to speculate, there has been suggestion that the weather had a degree of influence on the situation.”
Ferries report finds ‘serious failings’
A long-awaited report into the Ferguson Marine ferries fiasco has identified serious failings, including Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to prematurely announce the shipyard as preferred bidder.
Scottish Business Insider says that, following months of investigation, a Holyrood committee found taxpayers and island communities have been “badly let down” by many of those involved in the project.
The 124-page report from the Public Audit Committee is the most comprehensive account so far of the troubled programme to build the Glen Sannox and the as-yet-unnamed Hull 802.
The ferries are meant to serve island communities in the west of Scotland, but are now five years late and with a price tag nearly tripled to almost £300million.
The decision to publicly announce Ferguson Marine Engineering - at that point owned by businessman Jim McColl - as the preferred bidder in 2015 came in for particular criticism.
Ms Sturgeon personally attended the shipyard for the announcement, and the committee said the move “almost certainly” weakened the negotiating position of the ferry-owning body CMAL when problems emerged later.
Decarbonising Scotland’s industrial sectors
A new roadmap calls for up to £9billion of investment to help decarbonise industrial sectors north of the border, and again highlights the essential role of the Acorn project.
Launched in Edinburgh by alliance group NECCUS, the document lays out potential scenarios to tackle major emitters and support Scotland’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2045.
Yet, with all routes requiring a sizable rollout of carbon capture and storage and/or hydrogen, Energy Voice says Scotland’s fortunes rest heavily on support for the north-east’s Acorn project.
Fury over energy giant’s pension move
Workers who have retired from Shell are furious after the energy giant declined a bigger rise in pension payments.
One retired person who worked for Shell for many years in Aberdeen told the Press & Journal that the move affects several thousand people and their dependents in the north-east.
The oil and gas firm revealed a change of policy affecting some of its pensioners after inflation started to rise to 40-year highs in 2022.
The policy, which could have seen pay outs rise by as much as 13.4%, was refused and instead pensioners were only allowed a 7% increase.
Shell argued the increase would have added more than £500million to the fund’s liabilities and it needed to “take into account all stakeholders”.
New tidal energy project
Orbital Marine Power has announced it has been awarded an option agreement from Crown Estate Scotland for a new tidal energy project in Orkney.
Expected to result in over £120million of domestic supply-chain spending, the development is set to create hundreds of jobs across construction and around a dozen new permanent jobs locally.
Andrew Scott, chief executive at Orbital, told Energy Voice: “As the UK looks to accelerate the decarbonisation of its energy system, we firmly believe tidal projects can bring unique benefits while harnessing a perfectly predictable and secure source of renewable energy.
“We’re proud to be building that vision in Orkney with this investment in our Westray project.”
Centrica CEO gets £4.5million
The boss of the owner of British Gas has seen his pay top £4.5million for 2022.
Chris O'Shea, the chief executive of Centrica, has been awarded a £1.4million bonus for his performance last year, according to the company's annual report.
Sky News says this is to be paid in addition to Mr O'Shea's £790,000 salary and a £2.3million long-term share bonus.
Flight delays
More than a third of UK flights were delayed last year, according to the aviation regulator.
The Civil Aviation Authority said travel operators' performance had been affected by the challenges they faced in the first half of 2022.
Only 63% of flights departed or arrived in the UK within 15 minutes of their scheduled time.
The BBC says this was down from 75% in 2019, the last year before the pandemic.
Having shed thousands of jobs during the worst of the pandemic, many aviation businesses including airports couldn't get new staff in place quickly enough.
Ex-PM says he did not intentionally mislead
Boris Johnson yesterday repeatedly insisted he did not intentionally mislead Parliament over Partygate in a heated grilling by MPs.
The former prime minister began the marathon three-hour session with a Bible in his hands, as he swore: "Hand on heart, I did not lie to the House."
He admitted social distancing had not been "perfect" at gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns.
But he said they were "essential" work events, which he claimed were allowed.
The BBC says he insisted the guidelines - as he understood them - were followed at all times.
Concern how Ikea handled employee allegation
Ikea has been told to protect its staff in the UK from sexual harassment following concern over how it handled an allegation from a former employee at one of its stores.
It is the latest household name to sign such an agreement, after a similar move by McDonald's last month.
The UK equality watchdog told the BBC that it was rare to take this kind of action.
Ikea said it did "not tolerate harassment of any kind".
The Swedish furniture giant has around 12,000 employees in the UK.
Macron defends pension-age move
French President Emmanuel Macron has given a defiant defence of his decision to force through a rise in the pension age, in the face of protests across France and two no-confidence votes.
"This reform isn't a luxury, it's not a pleasure, it's a necessity," he said.
Protesters have been emboldened by the government's use of constitutional power to ram through reforms without a vote in the National Assembly.
The BBC says a ninth round of strikes and national protests will take place today.