Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Millions of drivers mis-sold car finance to receive average £829 in compensation
Millions of drivers who were mis-sold motor finance agreements should receive compensation this year, averaging around £829 per person, under plans by the regulator.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has set out its proposal for a redress scheme, costing lenders a total of £9.1billion, which will see fewer loan agreements eligible for compensation.
The regulator said firms are expected to pay £7.5billion to people who took out eligible motor finance deals, while the administrative cost of the scheme is forecast to reach £1.6billion.
Banchory food startup targets global growth after strong first year
A Banchory food producer is setting its sights on international expansion as it marks its first year in business.
Slow Sauce, founded by former London chef Jonathan Hope, specialises in small-batch miso and shoyu made using organic, locally sourced ingredients and matured in whisky barrels.
The 36-year-old launched the venture alongside business partner Robin Sheriff, converting a former funeral parlour on the town’s High Street into a commercial kitchen.
Fatal train derailment was 'avoidable', inquiry told
A fatal train derailment in Aberdeenshire was "avoidable", an inquiry has heard.
The train's driver Brett McCullough, conductor Donald Dinnie and passenger Christopher Stuchbury died in the crash at Carmont, near Stonehaven, on 12 August 2020. The train derailed after hitting debris washed from a drain following heavy rain.
Alex Prentice KC, for the Crown, told the fatal accident inquiry (FAI) that Network Rail had "acknowledged their failings, in the course of the criminal prosecution and this inquiry". He added: "Sadly, this was an avoidable tragedy."
During closing submissions, Prentice said the drainage system had not been installed according to its design, and health and safety files had not been retained.
Starmer gives doctors 48 hours to halt strikes or lose jobs deal
Sir Keir Starmer has accused junior doctors of “recklessly” walking away from a pay deal under which some would have earned more than £100,000 a year.
The British Medical Association is staging a six-day strike from April 7 to April 13, falling just after the Easter bank holiday weekend, in pursuit of “full pay restoration” to 2008 levels, the equivalent of a 26% pay rise. The union has said that inflation caused by the Iran war meant they needed the rise.
Starmer has given them 48 hours to call off the strikes before ministers withdraw an offer of thousands more NHS jobs.
Shop price inflation rises as retailers pass on higher energy costs
Retailers have already begun to pass on the recent spike in energy prices caused by the war in the Middle East as research shows shop prices rose at a faster pace over the past month.
“Higher costs resulting from the conflict in the Middle East are starting to feed into supply chains,” Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, the sector’s lobby group, said.
Dickinson was commenting on the BRC and NielsenIQ (NIQ) survey that found the rate of shop price inflation picked up to 1.2% on an annual basis in March from 1.1% in the previous month. Although inflation accelerated, the March rate was below the three-month rolling average of 1.3%.