Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Russia warns UK over supplying drones to Ukraine
Russia has accused the UK of "deliberately opting for an escalation of the Ukraine crisis" following confirmation that British-made drones had been used in strikes on targets in Russia.
"In doing so, the United Kingdom is acting as an accomplice and co-perpetrator of the bloody crimes and terrorist attacks," the Russian Embassy to the UK wrote in a statement.
"London's actions will inevitably carry consequences for which it will have to answer," it said, adding that the deeper its involvement in the conflict, "the higher the price it will pay".
Read more from the BBC.
Castlegate: Openreach work under way after delays to £14m revamp
Work to protect phone and data cables beneath the Castlegate is under way - meaning Aberdeen’s multi-million-pound overhaul of the square might finally be able to progress.
Openreach and the city council have been at stalemate over the works to protect the underground infrastructure for months.
Earlier this month, Aberdeen City Council’s contractor Morrison Construction on the £14million project even tarred over the trenches dug up to allow access to the subterranean lines as the wait continued.
Read more in The Press and Journal.
Trump’s not bluffing about 100% tariffs on UK, says trade tsar
President Trump’s threat to scrap a trade deal with Britain and impose 100 per cent tariffs is “not a bluff”, the US trade tsar has warned.
Trump has repeatedly called on the UK to remove a tax on big tech companies, arguing it is designed to discriminate against US firms.
However, the most recent threat, made in a social media post by Trump in June, has not been followed up by action from his administration.
Read The Times' story here.
Castore boss urges UK to embrace riskier companies for floats
The founder of one of the UK’s fastest-growing businesses has said there needs to be a “psychological and structural change” if the country is going to attract more companies to float.
Tom Beahon, the co-founder and chief executive of the sportswear brand Castore, said there was more understanding in the US and other countries that younger businesses would be more “volatile”. London was “being measured against more alternatives” by businesses looking to raise money, he added.
Castore was valued at $1.3 billion (£960 million) in its latest fundraising in 2023. The sportswear brand was launched by Beahon and his brother Phil in 2016 and is based in Manchester.
Read the full story in The Times.
Sainsbury's branch halts AI use as shopper ejected
Sainsbury's has suspended its use of live facial recognition technology at one of its London branches after a customer was wrongly challenged as a shoplifter and asked to leave.
Matt Arnold, 46, was buying items at the East Dulwich store when he was stopped by management at a self-service till.
Describing the experience as a "terrifying glimpse of the future," he has warned that retail surveillance tech risks humiliating customers and creating a system where staff feel compelled to follow automated alerts without applying human logic.
Read the BBC article here.
KPMG and EY to be paid almost £500m to train civil servants
The government is to pay EY and KPMG almost half a billion pounds to train civil servants — less than two years after Labour pledged to slash spending on external consultants.
The two “Big Four” accountancy firms will provide ad-hoc “learning and training services” to the civil service between September 2026 and March 2028 while Labour gets the “school of government” up and running again.
For their year-and-a-half of work, EY and KPMG will receive up to £456 million, the largest single contract the Cabinet Office has awarded to Big Four firms since the records of Tussell, a government contracts analytics group, began in 2012.
Find out more in The Times.
Virgin takes step towards running Channel Tunnel rail services
Virgin's plan to run a rival rail service to Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel has moved closer after it was granted track access by the regulator.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said the approval will allow Virgin to run up to 20 daily return services between London and Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam, with the agreement running from 1 October 2030 to 31 December 2040.
The ORR said, external it was "a significant step forward" in introducing competition on the route, where Eurostar has held a monopoly on passenger services since the tunnel opened in 1994.
Read more on the BBC website.