Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Cost of summer holiday clubs rises to £1,076 a child
Summer holiday clubs to cover Britain's six-week school break now cost parents an average of £1,076 per child, new figures suggest.
The price varies by region with some areas seeing hikes of up to 13% on last year, according to research by children's charity Coram.
High demand and a lack of cheaper council-run activities are driving up prices, it found.
Read more on the BBC website.
Trump discussed firing Fed boss but 'highly unlikely' he will
President Donald Trump has said it is "highly unlikely" he will fire the head of the US central bank, hours after asking lawmakers whether he should sack Jerome Powell.
Stock markets and the dollar slipped following reports Trump had broached the idea with Republicans on Tuesday but quickly bounced back after he downplayed the discussions.
Dismissing the chair of the Federal Reserve would be a major break with precedent.
Read the full story on the BBC site.
Diageo begins search for new boss as Debra Crew departs
The world’s biggest spirits maker took investors and the market by surprise on Wednesday with the announcement that its chief executive of two years was standing down with immediate effect.
Diageo, which owns Johnnie Walker whisky and Guinness, said that Debra Crew, a former US Army captain who was promoted from chief operating officer to chief executive in July 2023, would be replaced by Nik Jhangiani, its chief financial officer, on an interim basis.
The FTSE 100 drinks group is in the midst of a turnaround drive and in May unveiled a plan to cut $500 million in costs and make “substantial” asset sales by 2028. The company did not give further details but said it was maintaining its forecasts for the current financial year and 2026.
Read more on The Times' website.
Barclays fined £39m for poor handling of risk over James Stunt company
Barclays has become embroiled in the fallout from one of Britain’s biggest money-laundering scandals after it was fined £39.3 million for failing to tackle financial crime risks in its dealings with a company owned by the socialite James Stunt.
The Financial Conduct Authority said on Wednesday that the FTSE 100 bank had continued to serve Stunt & Co, a gold trading business whose sole shareholder was Stunt, a former son-in-law of the Formula 1 tycoon Bernie Ecclestone, despite being aware of “multiple risks”.
Stunt & Co received £46.8 million in electronic transfers to its Barclays account between July 2015 and August 2016 from Fowler Oldfield, a Bradford-based jewellery company that it has since emerged was at the centre of a £266 million money-laundering operation.
Get the full story on The Times' website.
Thousands of firms struck off Companies House register in crackdown
Thousands of companies have been removed from the Companies House register over the past year following a clampdown involving financial crime authorities and police across the UK.
Over two days, police officers visited 11 addresses where 30 high-risk trust and company services providers operated. They focused on high-risk addresses, company formation agents, and directors linked to UK companies.
In one example, a company formation agent had registered between 4,000 and 5,000 businesses at an address in London, many of which were actually based in other parts of the UK or overseas.
The full article is available on The Times website.