Here are the business stories making the headlines locally and across the UK this morning.
Abrdn shareholders urged to reject pay report over CFO’s salary
One of Britain’s biggest fund management companies faces a possible investor revolt over executive pay after a leading shareholder adviser raised concerns about the £675,000 annual salary Abrdn is paying its new finance chief.
Glass Lewis has recommended that shareholders vote against Abrdn’s remuneration report for 2023 at its annual general meeting this month because of the scale of the salary it has handed to Jason Windsor, who started as its chief financial officer last October.
While the base pay at Abrdn is the same as what Windsor, 51, was earning in his previous role as the finance chief of Persimmon, the housebuilder, it is significantly higher than the £538,125 salary that was received by Stephanie Bruce, his predecessor at Abrdn.
National Insurance cut to kick in but more pay tax
Workers will see their National Insurance (NI) payments cut from Saturday but frozen thresholds mean many are paying more in income tax.
The NI rate is falling from 10% to 8% for 27 million employees across the UK - the second such cut this year.
It is worth about £450 a year to an employee on an average salary of £35,000.
But a freeze in income levels at which tax is paid until 2028 will leave many with a higher income tax bill.
Aberdeen ‘poo bank entrepreneur’ nets £27m for life sciences firm
Aberdeen University life sciences spin-out EnteroBiotix has secured a £27 million cash injection.
The new funding will allow the business to invest more in its research and development programmes, workforce and facilities.
And it will support trials of new drugs for conditions including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), blood cancer and liver cirrhosis.
The extra cash includes £6m from the Scottish National Investment Bank (Snib), £10m from other investors and around £11m of equity-backed loans.
Vodafone and Three merger in doubt amid price hike concerns
A planned merger between Vodafone and Three is in doubt after the competition watchdog said it would launch a major investigation into the deal.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the move was being taken after the firms failed to offer any measures to ease its concerns that mobile phone users could face higher prices and reduced quality of service if the plans went ahead.
The proposed £15bn merger, announced last year, would bring 27 million customers together under a single provider and create the UK's largest mobile network.
However, fears have been raised that it will reduce rivalry between operators, with the regulator previously saying it had not seen any evidence that the deal would be good for competition or investment.