Here are the business stories making the headlines in Scotland and across the UK this morning.
Six arrested over suspected plot to disrupt London Stock Exchange
Six people have been arrested over a suspected plot to disrupt the London Stock Exchange, the Metropolitan Police has said.
The force said it began its investigation after receiving information from the Daily Express on Friday.
Activists from a group called Palestine Action were allegedly intending to target the exchange on Monday morning.
It is claimed they were intent on causing damage and were going to "lock on" in an attempt to stop the building from opening for trading.
It may have been "one part of a planned week of action", said Detective Superintendent Sian Thomas.
AI to hit 40% of jobs and worsen inequality, IMF says
Artificial intelligence is set to affect nearly 40% of all jobs, according to a new analysis by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
IMF's managing director Kristalina Georgieva says "in most scenarios, AI will likely worsen overall inequality".
Ms Georgieva adds that policymakers should address the "troubling trend" to "prevent the technology from further stoking social tensions".
The proliferation of AI has put its benefits and risks under the spotlight.
The IMF said AI is likely to affect a greater proportion of jobs - put at around 60% - in advanced economies. In half of these instances, workers can expect to benefit from the integration of AI, which will enhance their productivity.
UK potholes and road defects have led to surge in callouts
Britain’s potholed roads caused a surge in vehicle breakdowns last year, according to motoring organisations, which said related callouts were at their highest level for at least five years.
Figures from the AA and RAC breakdown services recorded substantial increases as a result of the state of the roads, which the government recently pledged to tackle with money diverted from cutting the HS2 high-speed railway project.
The AA said it had received 632,000 callouts to vehicles damaged by road defects last year, including cars with punctures, an increase of 16% compared with the previous 12 months and the highest since 2018, when extreme cold weather affected the road network.
The RAC, on a much narrower sample of breakdowns it defines as pothole-related, said calls were up 33%, with patrols attending nearly 30,000 related breakdowns in 2023, about 80 a day. The rate peaked in the last three months of the year, its worst autumn since 2017.
We’ll take on Pret with new Prezzo fast food chain, vows chief
Prezzo is preparing to challenge the likes of Pret A Manger and Upper Crust with its own chain of takeaway pasta shops in train stations, as casual restaurant chains come under pressure.
Dean Challenger, chief executive at Prezzo, said the Italian chain was in the “early stages” of planning a new line of fast food branches, breaking away from the business’s traditional sit-down dining model.
“Train stations have options like Upper Crust, KFC, Burger King, but there’s nothing available at a slight level above these. I think there’s a gap there,” said Challenger.
The new Prezzo “Pronto” chain would offer “takeaway pasta, takeaway pizza slices – the things that are common in the US,” he said.