Here are the business stories making the headlines across the UK this morning.
Macduff Shipyard’s £1.9m doubling of Buckie berthing facility
Macduff Shipyard is to expand its capacity by investing in larger facilities in a £1.9million project that will allow the business to take on more building, repair and maintenance work.
The firm is doubling the size of its berthing facility in Buckie, Aberdeenshire. The expansion, expected to create ten additional jobs, has been awarded a £190,000 package by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the state-backed economic development agency.
Rory McCann, commercial director at Macduff, told The Times: “This project should be completed next spring and will allow us to grow our business further.”
Fish processors demand energy cost action from next prime minister
Scottish pelagic fish processors have written to both prospective prime ministers calling for help to mitigate soaring energy costs.
The sector – focused mainly on mackerel, herring and blue whiting – is reaching crisis point, they claimed.
The group told the Press & Journal that new support measures are required “without delay”.
More train drivers set to walk out on 15 September
Train drivers at 12 rail companies will strike again as part of an ongoing dispute over pay, the Aslef union says.
It will be the biggest strike that the drivers have taken part in so far and will include LNER, operators of the East Coast mainline between Aberdeen and London.
The BBC reports that staff will walk out on 15 September, after talks broke down over pay, with the union seeking wages to keep pace with the rising cost of living.
Water ban extended to River Ythan
A new ban on taking water from rivers has come into force in eastern Scotland.
Water abstraction licences will be suspended on the River Tyne in East Lothian, River Ythan in Aberdeenshire and the Lower Tweed in the Borders.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said the move was needed to aid their recovery from critically low water levels.
Oil prices fell by 12.3% in August
Oil prices fell further yesterday to record their third successive monthly decline amid fears that inflation and the latest Chinese Covid restrictions will temper the demand for fuel.
Brent crude, the global benchmark price, was down 2.8% at $96.49 a barrel last night for a monthly drop of 12.3%.
The Times said it is the first time that prices have ended the month at less than $100 a barrel since January. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February sent prices soaring to $139 a barrel in March.
ScotRail blocked from relaxing alcohol ban
ScotRail’s alcohol ban was kept in place by officials despite the train operator preferring more relaxed rules that would have seen daytime drinking allowed, according to an exclusive report in The Scotsman.
The Scottish Government-owned operator announced in July that a ban on drinking or visibly carrying alcohol would continue for the “foreseeable future”, extending rules introduced as part of Covid restrictions from 2020.
Emails have revealed that the decision was taken against a ScotRail board recommendation, which preferred a return to pre-pandemic rules.
SNP and UK ministers urged to work more closely on foreign policy
A Conservative MSP has called on the UK government to work more closely with the SNP when negotiating trade deals and promoting Scotland abroad.
Donald Cameron, the party’s constitution spokesman at Holyrood, told The Times that while foreign policy and international trade was reserved to Westminster there was a “question of balance” about the involvement of the Scottish government.
This could see senior SNP politicians having an input into strategies to promote Scottish products.