Here are the business stories making the headlines locally and across the country this morning.
Aberdeen oil boss Bob Kidd loses £150m lawsuit
Aberdeen oil boss Bob Kidd has lost a £150 million fraud case he brought against his former lawyers and American business partners.
Mr Kidd took action against law firm Ledingham Chalmers and private equity house Lime Rock Partners over a business deal involving ITS Tubular Services, which he founded in 1989.
The firm was later placed in administration, with the collapse in the value of Mr Kidd’s shares – which he aimed to recover.
Mr Kidd lost an initial action against Lime Rock and Ledingham Chalmers back in 2021, then seeking around £158m.
Read the full story in Energy Voice.
Rachel Reeves: Labour won't be able to turn things around immediately
Labour will not be able to "turn things around straight away" if elected, Rachel Reeves has said.
Speaking to the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the shadow chancellor did not rule out making cuts in some areas, saying Labour would inherit the worst economy since World War Two.
She said she would be "methodically" identifying ways to pay for existing pledges on the NHS and schools.
The Conservatives said Labour "didn't have a plan" to pay for their policies.
Stalling jobs market puts pressure on Bank to cut interest rates
A sharp decline in the pace of wage growth and falling demand for staff has added to pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates to revive a stalling jobs market.
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation’s and KPMG’s monthly report on jobs revealed that the rate of growth in starting salaries slipped to its slowest pace in nearly three years, down to an index reading of 55.2 in February from 55.8 in the previous month.
It remains above the 50-point threshold that separates growth from contraction, meaning that starting pay still rose but at a slower rate. Temporary starting salary growth also dropped to 54.3 from 54.8.
The sustained drop in pay growth indicates that the risk of inflation remaining higher for longer due to an overheated labour market has receded. The Bank of England has repeatedly said that it needs to see a containment in salary increases before it begins lowering interest rates from their current level of 5.25%, a 16-year high.
Aberdeen taxpayers could pay £10,000 for portrait of Lord Provost – despite calls to axe expensive tradition
Thousands of pounds worth of taxpayer money has been set aside for a portrait of Aberdeen’s Lord Provost – with the cash coming from a fund set up to “benefit the city”.
The long-standing custom to immortalise the image of every holder of the prestigious role goes back hundreds of years.
And the SNP councillor David Cameron is next in line to grace the walls of the city’s Town House.
But concerns have been raised about the spiralling cost – which has doubled over the years – and the use of the money in times of financial trouble.