Here are the business stories making the headlines locally and across the country this morning.
UK economy continued to flatline in month Labour came to power - official figures
There was no growth in the UK economy in July, official figures show.
It follows a month of no growth at all in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
GDP - the measure of everything produced in the UK - flatlined in the weeks following the election of the Labour government.
Among the G7 group of industrialised nations, the UK had the highest growth rate for the first six months of 2024.
NHS Grampian in ‘extremely challenging’ position with predicted £82.5m overspend
NHS Grampian is facing an “extremely challenging” financial position, a report has revealed.
The health board will be forced to find short-term saving options as it is on course to overspend by £82.5 million this financial year.
The difficult situation will be discussed at a meeting of the board on Thursday.
As well as talking through the financial report, members will be asked to approve measures to save money – including cutting back on bank nursing, overtime and locums.
GB News owner buys Spectator magazine for £100m
The Spectator has been sold for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, a hedge fund tycoon and major investor in GB News.
He beat around 20 other bidders to buy the right-leaning magazine, once edited by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
It went back on sale in April after an Abu Dhabi-backed bid to buy it along with the Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph collapsed.
This came after the government intervened in January. Legislation banning foreign states from owning UK newspapers soon followed.
SNP warned tax rises to fill budget gap ‘will be difficult’
SNP ministers have been warned by a leading academic that they will find it “very difficult” to raise more money through higher taxes to fill gaps in Scotland’s public finances.
David Heald, emeritus professor in the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, also described the way council tax was calculated as “ludicrous” and called for reform.
Heald told MSPs that basing council tax on housing valuations from the previous century should no longer be tolerated.
He said: “It is ludicrous we are still using 1991 values. Everyone knows that but no political party dare move."
Apple 'required' to pay Ireland £11bn after illegal state aid case
The European Court of Justice has ordered Apple to pay $13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to Ireland following the conclusion of a long-running legal fight that the country did not bring.
The European Commission brought the action in 2016, to the fury of both Apple and Ireland's government, on the grounds that the EU member state had granted Apple unlawful aid through sweetheart tax base deals over 11 years.
The EU's executive arm said the company's effective corporate tax rate on its European profits dropped from 1% in 2003 to a mere 0.005% by 2014.
Ireland had a corporation tax rate of 12.5% within that time frame - one of the lowest in the western world - enabling it to attract top US tech names and bring welcome employment.