Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Video reveals future of Aberdeen’s Union Street as project bosses plot out next steps of revamp
A futuristic video has given Aberdeen residents a glimpse into how a revamped Union Street is tipped to look by the end of this year.
Morrison Construction, which has been tasked with carrying out the works along the central stretch of the Granite Mile, today lifted the lid on the progress workers have made.
The ballroom at the Douglas Hotel on nearby Market Street was adorned with dozens of information boards outlining the stages of the £20 million scheme.
Read the full story and watch the video on The Press and Journal website.
Boots gets new US owner in multi-billion dollar deal
The US owner of high street chemist Boots says it will be taken private in a $10bn (£7.8bn) deal.
The move brings to an end nearly a century of trading on public markets for the Walgreens Boots Alliance.
It has seen its debt grow as cost-conscious customers chose to shop online and opted for cheaper products.
SpaceX rocket explodes, raining debris from sky for second time in a row
A SpaceX rocket exploded shortly after it was launched from Texas on Thursday, grounding flights and triggering warnings about falling spaceship debris.
SpaceX confirmed the un-crewed ship had suffered "a rapid unscheduled disassembly" during its ascent into space, and lost contact with the ground.
The massive SpaceX Starship, the largest rocket ever created, spun out of control shortly after its launch. No injuries or damage have been reported but images from those in Caribbean Sea island nations show fiery debris raining from the sky.
Jack Daniel's hits out at Canada pulling US alcohol
Canadian provinces pulling US alcohol off store shelves in response to Trump trade policy is "worse than tariffs", the boss of Jack Daniel's maker Brown-Forman has said.
Several Canadian provinces, including Ontario, which is by far the most populated, took action this week in retaliation for US tariffs on Canadian goods.
The Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), one of the largest buyers of alcohol in the world, removed US-made alcoholic drinks from its shelves on Tuesday.
Read the full story here.
Reform claims Scottish membership will outstrip Labour this month
Reform UK has claimed that its membership figure north of the border will eclipse Scottish Labour’s by the end of the month despite the party having no discernible Scottish policies.
Richard Tice, the party’s deputy leader, revealed the news at an event in Glasgow where he also announced the defection of two Conservative councillors to his party.
However, the gap in Tice’s Scottish knowledge was laid bare when it emerged that he did not know the full names of the two councillors nor where they were from.
Read the full story in The Times.
Swinney rejects calls to dilute Trident opposition
John Swinney has said that he does not agree with calls from Ian Blackford for the SNP to change its stance on the unilateral disarmament of the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
Blackford, the former SNP leader in Westminster, still wants to see the removal of Trident from Clyde Naval Base, but now favours a multilateral approach, meaning weapons would be given up under agreements obliging other nuclear-armed states to do the same.
Writing in The Times, Blackford referred to the recent change in stance from the Trump administration, saying it raises “fundamental questions” for European security.
Click here to read the full article.
Labour’s employment reforms are ‘highly damaging’, says CBI chief
The government’s employment reforms remain “highly damaging” to companies’ willingness to invest and hire and must change course, the president of the CBI has warned.
Rupert Soames, the boardroom veteran and chairman of Smith & Nephew, said that despite government amendments this week, the Employment Rights Bill would deter both domestic and foreign businesses from employing more people in the UK.
He said the CBI, one of Britain’s big five business lobby groups, had been “largely ignored”.