Here are the business stories making the headlines across the UK this morning.
Exercise twice as effective as anti-depressants
Exercise is twice as effective at treating depression as antidepressants, a study has suggested.
Walking or jogging at least two to three times a week was considered the best way to improve symptoms of depression, researchers revealed.
Experts analysed 14,170 people with major depression disorder from 218 separate trials and ranked different forms of exercise by how effective they were at treating the condition compared with existing treatments.
Click here to read more.
BP strikes deal with UAE oil giant in Middle East expansion
BP has struck a deal with the UAE’s state-owned oil company as the British energy giant deepens ties to the Middle East.
BP is to form a joint venture with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) focused on production from two massive Egyptian gas fields.
Under the deal, BP will transfer interests in three gas fields to the joint venture as well as exploration rights.
Click here to read more.
Virgin Money buys out Abrdn in investments joint venture
Virgin Money has agreed to buy out Abrdn’s 50 per cent stake in their joint venture, Virgin Money Investments, in a £20million deal.
The fee means the FTSE 250-listed asset manager has lost over half the value of its investment in Virgin Money Investments made just four years ago.
Aberdeen Standard Investments, as it was previously known, purchased a 50 per cent stake in the firm for £40million plus capital adjustments of £10million, for a total sum of £50million, in 2019.
Click here to read more.
Row over Inverness Caley Thistle battery farm plan
A football club are “bewildered” that their scheme for a money-raising energy storage plant is to be looked at again — by the council that approved it last week.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle was given permission by Highland council for a battery farm near the city’s Fairways Business Park. The 52-battery facility would store up to 50MW of excess electricity from wind farms and feed it into the national grid as needed.
The scheme is an unusual one for a football club but Inverness had access to the land. The idea was driven by Intelligent Land Investments, its main shirt sponsor and a clean energy developer.
The directors said the project had “significant value”. It went before a committee last Wednesday with officials recommending refusal, citing noise and a loss of green space. Councillors waved it through by three votes to two.
Inverness’s delight turned to disbelief this week when Highland council announced it would review its decision.
Click here to read more