Here are the top business stories making the headlines this Tuesday morning.
Move to stop planning for Scottish independence
The head of the civil service has been urged to step in and stop the Scottish Government planning for an independent Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon announced in the Programme for Government last year that civil servants would resume work on a plan for how Scotland would look outside the UK.
It has now emerged that 11 civil servants have been tasked with creating the prospectus.
The Scotsman says that Shadow Scotland secretary Ian Murray has written to Cabinet Secretary Simon Case - the ultimate head of the civil service in the UK.
"Many would consider this is a deeply inappropriate use of public funds at any time, but not least while Scotland is still in the midst of a pandemic, when energy bills are rising and families' household budgets are squeezed," the letter said.
"The Scottish National Party is of course perfectly entitled to set out its plans for separation, but Scottish taxpayers should not be expected to foot the bill for a prospectus which the majority have already rejected in a national referendum.
"I consider this to be an inappropriate and entirely wasteful use of taxpayers' money and hope that you will investigate and ultimately reverse this decision."
A spokesman for the Scottish Government said: "It is the role of the civil service to support the elected government of the day in developing and implementing its policies."
Small firms hit by National Insurance hike
The National Insurance rise will add more than £3,000 to the tax burden of the average small business from April and push up prices for consumers already facing a cost-of-living crisis.
The Telegraph reports that the Federation of Small Business has warned the increase will push up firms' tax bills to their highest level since the aftermath of World War II, forcing many to pass on the added costs to shoppers.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak confirmed on Sunday that they would press ahead with the tax rise, despite calls from Tory backbench MPs and the opposition to scrap the planned rise.
The average small and medium-size enterprise with employees will suffer a £260 rise in National Insurance contributions a month, or £3,115 per year, according to the FSB. The analysis is based on the average SME having eight staff.
West of Shetland deal
TotalEnergies has agreed a multi-million pound deal to sell a 20% stake in a package of West of Shetland assets to Kistos Energy.
Kistos, headed up by former RockRose Energy CEO Andrew Austin, will take up interests in the Greater Laggan Area fields and the Shetland gas plant, as well as interests in nearby exploration licences.
Energy Voice reports the deal involves an initial payment of £93million, plus two contingent payments - the first being up to £30million depending on the gas price in 2022.
Kistos said the second pertains directly to the Benriach exploration prospect.
TotalEnergies said the deal is subject to approval from UK authorities. Completion is expected in the second quarter of this year.
With that, Kistos expects to increase its own reserves by 6.2million barrels of oil equivalent and effectively double its 2021 production rate to 13,500 barrels per day.