Here are the business stories making the headlines both locally and nationally this morning.
Humza Yousaf to set out priority policies for next three years
First Minister Humza Yousaf will set out his priorities for the next three years in a statement at Holyrood later.
It will be Mr Yousaf's first major policy announcement since becoming first minister last month.
He will also publish a policy document listing what the Scottish government plans to deliver for communities and businesses over the period.
Yesterday he again talked of creating a new income tax band of 44% for people earning between £75,000 and £125,140.
Yousaf will also use the speech to confirm plans that council tax on second or empty homes could be doubled from next year.
Mick Lynch: ‘Real risk’ NRB practices will jeopardise energy transition
The head of the RMT union says a wave of strike action set to hit the North Sea will be a major test for industrial relations as it looks to protect members from potential discrimination.
General secretary Mick Lynch said the union would be monitoring the response from employers to planned strike action and warned that any victimisation of workers could threaten a just transition.
It comes as 1,350 Unite members are set to walk out between April 24 and 26, in a “tsunami” of industrial action the group has described as “unprecedented”.
“We believe that ‘Not Required Back’ (NRB) is still being practiced by contractors and duty holders in the offshore oil and gas sector,” Mr Lynch said in a statement to Energy Voice.
“The industry’s response to the latest wave of industrial disputes amongst contractors like Stork, Petrofac and Sparrows will be watched very closely by RMT and Unite for any subsequent NRB or other forms of persecution or discrimination against offshore workers who are trade union members.
“This is a key test of industrial relations offshore over the remainder of this decade.”
TV comedian to help James Watt back next unicorn
BrewDog co-founder James Watt has recruited a TV comedian and an entrepreneur to the advisory panel that will help him sift through more than 400 applications to find the next unicorn.
Comedy performer and close friend, Dom Joly and the founder of Contrarian Thinking, Codie Sanchez, will join Mr Watt in the search for the next billion-dollar business that will receive his £5 million investment.
The beer company co-founded by Mr Watt and business partner Martin Dickie reached the landmark valuation in 2017 and he wants to put money behind the next one.
Daily Business reports that the BrewDog boss has partnered with the world’s largest equity crowdfunding platform Crowdcube to receive pitches from a range of European entrepreneurs.
He says the Next Unicorn project is already the most successful campaign of its type in Crowdcube history and he has extended the deadline for applications to 19 April.
Bank of England warns about decline of cash
Cash is to become “less useable” as shoppers embrace the internet and high street stores increasingly reject bank notes, the deputy governor of the Bank of England has warned.
Sir Jon Cunliffe said that it will become harder to spend physical money in coming years owing to the rise of online shopping and contactless payments.
He added that it is therefore essential for Threadneedle Street to press ahead with developing an electronic version of sterling – the so-called digital pound – which can underpin future confidence in the financial system.
Speaking at the Innovate Finance Global Summit on Monday, Sir Jon said: “Cash is likely to decline further and cash itself will become less useable in everyday transactions, for example if internet commerce grows and if merchants increasingly accept only digital payment.”
EY to cut 3,000 jobs
Less than a week after abandoning its plan to split itself into separate audit and consulting businesses, EY has told staff it will cut 3,000 jobs in the United States to eliminate “overcapacity”.
The redundancies, which will fall mainly on the consulting side of the firm, account for 5 per cent of its American workforce, although the percentage reductions will be higher in the affected businesses.
“After assessing the impact of current economic conditions, strong employee retention rates and overcapacity in parts of our firm, we have made the difficult business decision to separate approximately 3,000 US employees,” an EY spokesman told the Financial Times.