Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Wind farm developers say turbine plans will improve Banchory beauty spot
Wind farm developers say their plans for a 16-turbine site near Banchory will improve the beauty spot.
RES Renewables wants to erect a complex at Hill of Fare, between the Deeside town and Sauchen.
Ahead of an important vote on the scheme, RES has issued a last-ditch plea for Aberdeenshire Council to change its stance and get behind it.
Click here to read more in the P&J.
Our Union Street seeks to revive city centre with tourist trails
Volunteer-led taskforce Our Union Street is appealing for snippets of Aberdeen's hidden history to showcase in their latest effort to breathe new life into the high street.
The taskforce envisions a future where, using cutting-edge technology, the Robert Burns statue on Union Terrace will burst into life to recall the writing of Auld Lang Syne.
And where people can bring historic figures into the present day by pointing their mobile phone at plaques in their honour – and even pose for a selfie with them.
Click here to read more in the P&J.
Taxing private jets would pay for cheap train fares, says Swinney
John Swinney has raised the prospect of taxing private jets landing in Scotland and using the money to reduce rail fares for the general public.
He said the prospect of trying to raise up to £21.5 million, about half of what the first minister has said is required to remove peak fares on trains each year, was a “welcome suggestion” by the Scottish Greens and Oxfam Scotland.
The cost of rail travel will roughly double for the vast majority of commuters on Monday when the Scottish government ends its pilot to abolish a two-tier pricing system.
Click here to read more.
Rachel Reeves hopes for £50bn windfall with fiscal rules rejig
Rachel Reeves will free up as much as £50billion to spend on roads, housing, energy and other large-scale projects under plans being drawn up by officials.
The chancellor has asked the Treasury to look at changing the government’s current borrowing rules that would hand her a windfall to fulfil Labour’s pledge to increase investment in the economy.
The present system has long been criticised by economists for discouraging governments from making long-term investments that could grow the economy.
Click here to read more.
OpenAI boss set for $10bn payday from move to for-profit model
The chief executive of OpenAI is set to enter the ranks of Big Tech billionaires under proposals to shift the company to a “for-profit” model.
Sam Altman, 39, could be handed a 7% stake in the American start-up behind ChatGPT, which was launched as a non-profit organisation in 2015. Under the new structure, analysts calculate that the company’s value would soar to $150 billion, making Altman’s prospective stake worth more than $10 billion on paper.
Suggestions that the Microsoft-backed company could upend its founding principles, under which it was designed as a non-profit researcher, coincided with the exit of three more key executives.
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Europe facing gas shortage this winter, warn experts
Europe is facing a massive shortfall of natural gas this winter because of disruption in maintenance schedules on Norway’s gas platforms and pipelines, analysts have warned.
The predicted shortfall of 66m cubic metres a day predicted by Rystad Energy is about a third of the UK’s daily consumption.
The warning comes at a difficult moment with cold temperatures expected to hit the UK and Europe over the next two weeks, leading to a surge in gas demand and an early onset of the heating season.
Click here to read more in the Telegraph.
Alex Salmond helps couple trying to sue over loss of winter fuel payment
An elderly Scottish couple are attempting to sue the Scottish and UK governments over the cut to the winter fuel payment for “damaging the welfare of pensioners”.
Following Labour’s election win, Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, announced that the winter fuel payment — which had previously been universal — would only be available to those on pension credit or other means-tested benefits this year due to financial woes.
Peter Fanning, 73, and his wife Florence, 72, who receive the state pension but are ineligible for pension credit, have raised proceedings with the help of the Govan Law Centre against the Scottish government and the UK work and pensions secretary over the policy.
Click here to read more.