Here are the business stories making the headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Wood appoints interim chief financial officer
Wood has appointed Iain Torrens as interim chief financial officer following former CFO Arvind Balan's exit.
Torrens will take on the position immediately after his predecessor resigned due to an “incorrect description of his professional qualifications in various statements in the public domain”.
The new finance chief will hold the position while the Aberdeen business hunts for a new CFO.
Read the full story on Energy Voice.
Aberdeen cocktail bar Orchid to close permanently
Orchid Cocktails has announced that it will close its doors for the final time on Friday.
This marks the end of a 15-year stint as one of the Granite City’s most popular premium drink spots.
Located at 51 Langstane Place, the venue has been on the market since August.
Alexa relaunched with ambition to be 'your best digital friend'
Amazon has unveiled Alexa+, an overhauled version of its virtual assistant with which it hopes users will share "just about anything".
Rapid recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have caused huge growth in software capable of natural-sounding conversations, with ChatGPT and DeepSeek among the most-downloaded apps worldwide.
Amazon is attempting to tap into this, with Alexa+ telling a launch event in New York it wanted to be "your new best friend in the digital world".
Click here for more.
Fife Arms Hotel in Turriff hits market for offers over £775k
Aberdeenshire’s Fife Arms Hotel and Restaurant, described as a “very profitable business” has been put up for sale.
The current owners, who have invested heavily in the property, are ready to step away from the hospitality trade to spend more time with family.
Located on The Square in Turriff, between Aberdeen and Banff, Fife Arms Hotel is open to freehold offers over £775,000.
House price rises triple those of flats since 2020
House values have risen three times faster than those of flats since the beginning of the pandemic, with would-be buyers put off by worries over cladding and service charges.
On average, house prices in the UK have risen by 24% over the past five years, compared with a 7% increase in the price of flats, data from Zoopla, the property search website, shows. Flats have risen in value by 0.5% over the past year, while house prices are up by 2.2% , on average, over that time.
A house is worth, on average, £319,445, according to Zoopla, 1.7 times that of the average flat price of £191,309. The gap is the widest for more than 30 years.
Click here to read more.