Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Allegro: New restaurant and Champagne bar to open on Union Street in Aberdeen
A new restaurant and Champagne bar called Allegro is set to open on 150 Union Street.
The latest hospitality venue in Aberdeen promises a “heritage-led” project at the former banking building.
The premises used to house the former Moka Bar and Kitchen, which closed after opening back in 2023.
Get the full story in The P&J.
UK economy faces £35bn hit from energy crisis - if war ends soon
The UK economy will lose £35 billion over the next two years and inflation will top 4 per cent as a result of the global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran, a think tank has claimed.
The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (Niesr) downgraded its growth forecasts, raised its inflation projections and said interest rates would hit 4 per cent this year, rather than falling to close to 3 per cent, as a result of the oil and gas crunch caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The forecast was made on the assumption that the conflict would end and oil prices would come back from highs of close to $110 a barrel down to $65 a barrel by the end of next year.
Read more in The Times.
Reform's Scottish leader says he owns six houses, six boats and five cars
Reform UK's leader in Scotland has been called "entitled" after telling a Holyrood election debate that he owns six houses, six boats and five cars.
Malcolm Offord made the comment as he clashed with opponents during the STV Leaders' Debate last night.
The debate, at the Signet Library in Edinburgh, came little over a week before Scots head to the polls on 7 May.
Weeks of silence over Iran school strike highly unusual, former US officials say
Five former US officials, including a former top military lawyer, have criticised the Pentagon for not acknowledging potential American involvement in a deadly strike on an Iranian school earlier this year.
Some of those officials said it was highly unusual not to release even basic details of the strike after such a length of time.
A missile hit a primary school in Minab during the opening salvos of the US-Israeli war on February 28, killing 168 people including around 110 children according to Iranian officials.
Read the full BBC article here.
Lloyds Bank profits hit £2bn on higher for longer rates
Higher-for-longer interest rates amid the war in the Middle East have boosted quarterly profits at Lloyds Banking Group to a bigger-than-expected £2 billion.
The bank, which is the country’s largest mortgage lender, said on Wednesday that its pre-tax profits in the three months to the end of March had climbed by 33 per cent, taking them above the £1.8 billion forecast by City analysts.
It has been buoyed by fatter margins, which benefit from higher borrowing costs.
The full story is available to read in The Times.