Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
John Swinney warns of election if budget is voted down
John Swinney has warned opposition parties that voters will punish them if they reject the SNP’s budget and force a snap Holyrood election.
The first minister said he was confident of striking a deal after the Scottish Greens, the SNP’s former coalition partners, reacted with fury to a package of spending cuts and his debut programme for government.
These included scrapping a pledge to provide all primary school pupils with free school meals, which he blamed on the previous UK government.
Click here to read more in The Times
Three Aberdeenshire SNP councillors stepping down
Three Aberdeenshire SNP councillors are to stand down, including one who was recently elected as an MP.
Seamus Logan, now the member of parliament for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East, is standing down from the local authority with immediate effect, as is Mearns member Kevin Stelfox.
Central Buchan councillor David Mair will officially step down on 18 September.
By-elections will be held to choose their replacements on the council, though no dates for these have yet been set.
Jobs at risk at Johnstons of Elgin textile firm
Johnstons of Elgin, one of Scotland's leading textile firms, has announced that about 60 jobs are at risk at its mill in Moray.
The firm makes woollens garments at mills in Elgin and Hawick, some for luxury own-brand labels and some under its own name.
There will be a restructuring at the Elgin plant, which employs about 750 people. There are no plans to reduce the Hawick workforce.
Click here to read more on the BBC News website.
BBC to cut up to 30 jobs in Scotland
Up to 30 jobs are expected to be cut at BBC Scotland as part of a nationwide effort across the corporation to make “targeted savings”.
A note to staff in BBC Scotland, BBC Wales and BBC Northern Ireland, said that management aims to “deliver the savings without closing any major services” and make “smart, targeted savings”.
It’s reported up to 115 editorial and production jobs will be cut in the three nations and the English regions.
UK pension funds urged to back London stock market
British pension funds are among the worst in developed economies for backing their home stock market, according to research that will fuel the debate about reform of UK retirement pots to boost the London Stock Exchange.
Only 4.4 per cent of assets in UK pension funds are invested in British equities, down from an estimated 6.1 per cent last year, analysis by New Financial, a think tank, has found. The proportion stood at more than 50 per cent 25 years ago.
It means that British schemes have the fourth lowest allocation to their domestic stock markets of 13 different pension systems assessed by the think tank. The United States topped the rankings with a 44 per cent domestic equity allocation, followed by Australia, at 24 per cent, and Hong Kong, at 22 per cent.
The report, which excluded UK personal pensions, will add to pressure to revamp retirement schemes as part of efforts to revitalise Britain’s faltering stock market.
Click here to read more in The Times.