Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
New St Johnstone owner calls for stadium booze ban to be lifted
The campaign to restore alcohol sales in football stadiums in Scotland after a ban lasting almost half a century is being backed by the new American owner of a Premiership team.
Adam Webb, the Atlanta-based lawyer who took over St Johnstone, the Perth-based club, last month, said legislation that let fans drink at rugby matches but not at soccer matches was “discriminatory” and should be phased out.
He told The Times football had changed immeasurably since the ban was introduced in 1980 because of CCTV, all-seater stadiums and other modern crowd-control techniques.
Banning stadiums from selling alcohol was depriving financially struggling clubs of revenue they needed to survive, he argued, as well as diluting the match-day experience for supporters.
West end pharmacy snapped up as owner retires
An established pharmacy in the Rubislaw area of Aberdeen has been taken over by new owners.
Anderson & Spence Pharmacy on Fountainhall Road had been owned and operated by Fiona Arris since 2008.
She has now sold on the west end business for an “undisclosed price” in preparation for her retirement.
Click here to read more in the Press & Journal
Mortgage possession claims up more than a third in second quarter
Banks have stepped up their efforts to seize homes from borrowers struggling to keep up with payments after a sharp rise in mortgage interest rates.
The number of mortgage possession claims leapt by more than a third to 5,343 in the three months to the end of June, compared with 3,991 in the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Justice. It was the highest level since 2019.
Landlord possession claims also increased by 9% year-on-year to 24,495 as private and social tenants struggled to keep up with paying the rent.
Click here to read more in The Times.
Bank of Scotland building into Union Street kebab restaurant
The closed Bank of Scotland branch on Aberdeen’s Union Street could be brought back to life as a new kebab restaurant.
Known as Canada House, the 201 Union Street premises dates back to the late 1800s when it was built for the North of Scotland Canadian Mortgage Company.
The Bank of Scotland confirmed its closure in 2022, and it has lain empty for about two years.
Click here to read more in the Press & Journal.
Unions hopeful for new pay offer as bin strikes loom
Unions are hopeful they will get a new pay offer to try to stop next week's bin strikes.
Council leaders from across Scotland are due to discuss the pay dispute later.
Bin workers and recycling staff at the three main council unions are due to start a programme of strikes from 14 - 22 August affecting most of the country.
Unions rejected the most recent pay offer of a 3.2% rise backdated to April, but on Thursday night Finance Secretary Shona Robison said the Scottish government had found more money for a "strong offer".
Click here to read more on the BBC news website
Yousaf says Elon Musk ‘one of most dangerous men on the planet’
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s former first minister, has said he believes Elon Musk to be “one of the most dangerous men on the planet” because of his unaccountable “amplification” of far-right disinformation on Twitter/X.
The comments, made at a sparsely attended Edinburgh Festival Fringe event on Thursday, came as Musk deleted a repost on his social media website earlier that day that promoted a false claim about detainment camps being set up in the Falkland Islands for those involved in riots around the UK in the past week.
The world’s richest man has repeatedly weighed in on the disorder resulting from the deaths of three young girls in Southport, including dubbing Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, “two-tier Keir” and suggesting “civil war is inevitable” in the UK.
“I have to say, in my opinion, he is one of the most dangerous men on the planet,” Yousaf said.
Click here to read more in The Times