Here are the stories making the business headlines across Scotland and the UK this morning.
Fraserburgh fishing firm fined £220,000 after crewman dies in gas leak
A fishing company and its boss have been fined more than £220,000 after a crewman died and three others were injured in a deadly gas leak onboard a North Sea trawler.
James Duthie, 66, appeared in the dock at Peterhead Sheriff Court as the face of his multi-million-pound business and admitted a series of health and safety failures that resulted in the death of William Ironside.
Mr Ironside, 52, was asphyxiated by Freon gas that had leaked into the refrigerated saltwater tank of MV Sunbeam as it was docked at Fraserburgh Harbour in 2018.
Three of Mr Ironside’s crewmates – Francis Wood, 60, Robert Cowe, 61 and William Buchan, 56 – were also overcome with fumes as they tried to recover his lifeless body from the enclosed space below deck.
Duthie, of Den of Cortes, Lonmay, admitted a number of charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Read more in today's Press and Journal.
Social media urged to act on violent content after Hamas attack
The UK technology secretary has summoned social media executives to demand the removal of violent content from their platforms related to the Hamas attack on Israel.
Michelle Donelan called the meeting as the European Union criticised Elon Musk’s X platform about coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict on its platform including fake news and the use of repurposed historical footage.
Donelan posted on X on Tuesday night that she wanted to ensure violent content “fuelled by Hamas’ acts of terrorism” was removed.
“I’ve called an urgent meeting with social media companies to ensure action is taken to swiftly remove any violent content fuelled by Hamas’ acts of terrorism in Israel from their platforms,” she wrote. “We are taking action to stand in solidarity with Israel and our Jewish community.”
The coverage on X, formerly known as Twitter, has come under scrutiny amid evidence of disinformation – purposefully misleading posts – on the platform related to the war.
Homeowners near net zero pylons could get free heat pumps, National Grid suggests
Rural homeowners whose views and properties are blighted by new electricity pylons and cables could be offered home insulation, heat pumps and other energy efficiency measures by National Grid.
Ben Wilson, National Grid’s chief strategy officer, said the company wanted people living alongside pylons and cabling to benefit from the infrastructure, which must be rolled out at scale as part of the shift to net zero.
Mr Wilson said: “I do think if you’re hosting the infrastructure, you should get a benefit in terms of your cost of energy, maybe help with energy insulation or helping to electrify your home in terms of heat.”
He suggested National Grid could also establish training academies to boost employment in the areas most affected by new transmission lines.
Read more in today's Telegraph.
Bank of England alarmed at rise of 35-year mortgages
The proportion of homeowners taking out mortgages of 35 years or longer has jumped as borrowers try to offset the impact of higher interest rates, the Bank of England has warned.
Threadneedle Street signalled yesterday that it was watching the developments in the mortgage market closely as homeowners look for ways to limit the steep rises they face in monthly mortgage payments.
It said that the share of new mortgage lending on terms of at least 35 years had climbed from 4 per cent in the first quarter of 2021 to 12 per cent in the three months to the end of June.
In addition, a “small number” of owner-occupiers had moved on to interest-only mortgage deals as a way to limit monthly payments, the Bank said.
“While longer mortgage terms and other forbearance measures could reduce pressures on borrowers in the short term, they could increase debt burdens over the longer term,” it warned in its latest quarterly analysis of the financial stability risks facing the UK.