Ferguson is listed as an active director for three other businesses registered with Companies House: Ginger and Moss, set up as a lifestyle brand to sell tea, jewellery and housewares, a “motion picture production activities” business called Coat, and Librasol, classified under “artistic creation” on the official register for private companies.

Lecturers at two Scottish universities have voted in favour of industrial action in disputes over possible compulsory redundancies, a union has announced.

In separate ballots members of the University and College Union (UCU) at both Heriot-Watt University and the University of Aberdeen backed strike action, as well as action short of a strike.

The latter can include working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, or not undertaking voluntary activities.

The dispute at Aberdeen centres on planned budget cuts and a refusal by management to rule out compulsory redundancies – despite the fact, the union said, 40 staff have already left under voluntary severance or retirement.

Meanwhile the row at Heriot-Watt follows a proposed “right-sizing exercise” which the union said could see at least 41 jobs lost at the university’s Scottish campuses, and a further 10 in Malaysia.

Kate Sang, Heriot-Watt UCU president, said: “Today’s vote shows the strength of feeling against these cuts and the jobs that senior managers want to lose.

“Sadly, the university has refused to commit to preserving the valuable research time of staff.

“Cuts to research provision will harm not only the university’s reputation, but the development of cutting-edge knowledge to address society’s big challenges.

“The use of compulsory redundancies is unacceptable, and while members will now decide what action they want to take, senior managers should be under no illusion that the use of compulsory redundancies is something we will be strongly opposing.

The threat of industrial action at Aberdeen comes less than two years after the last dispute in spring 2024, when strikes were pulled “at the last minute” after university management backed down on planned compulsory redundancies.

Dan Cutts, Aberdeen UCU branch co-chairman, said: “Once again members of the union at Aberdeen have shown that they’re willing to stand up to job cuts and will take action to stop people being forced out.

“This clear vote shows the strength of feeling among staff and that we see management’s plans for what they are; a threat to the student experience, to the workforce and to the breadth of research carried out at the university.

“There’s still time for our new principal to show that he wants to work with staff and the unions, and rule out the use of compulsory redundancies to resolve this dispute. The union is ready to negotiate, but we need management to engage and work with UCU to save jobs.”

Jo Grady, UCU general secretary, urged the principals at both universities to engage in talks with the union, and to rule out compulsory redundancies.

“Members at Heriot-Watt have shown their willingness to take action and defend jobs,” she said.

“To avoid this dispute escalating and the possibility of strikes at this busy time of year the principal needs to listen to them, sit down to talks and rule out the use of compulsory redundancies.”

She also said it was “unbelievable” that management at Aberdeen was again “trying to force staff from their jobs”.

“To be back in this position just two years after they were last forced to back down shows that they haven’t learnt the lesson,” she said.

“The new principal, Professor Edwards, should sit down with the unions and rule out the use of compulsory redundancies before it’s too late and this dispute escalates further.”

At Aberdeen, 83% of UCU members backed strike action on a turnout of 60%, with 90% also saying they would take part in action short of a strike.

Meanwhile at Heriot-Watt 74% of members backed strike action on a turnout of 70%, with 87% also saying they would participate in action short of a strike.

Union members at both universities are now set to decide on their next steps.

A University of Aberdeen spokesperson said: “The continued challenges and financial pressures testing the UK higher education sector mean change is necessary.

“Our Adapting for Continued Success transformation programme will help tackle our deficit and also deliver a more resilient, relevant and sustainable university.

“We understand concerns raised but the prospect of industrial action is disappointing, particularly when our students would be those most affected.”

Heriot-Watt University has been approached for comment.

Stock prices in London closed mixed on Monday after a day of thin trading due to a holiday in the US, while banking and defence stocks buoyed the blue-chip index.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 27.34 points, 0.3%, at 10,473.69. The FTSE 250 ended down 51.80 points, 0.2%, at 23,375.47, and the AIM all-share closed down 0.44 points, 0.1%, at 811.41.

In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended down 0.5%.

The pound was marginally higher at 1.3629 dollars on Monday afternoon from 1.3628 dollars at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood lower at 1.1854 dollars from 1.1869 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at 153.44 yen compared with 152.56 yen.

US financial markets are closed on Monday for Washington’s Birthday, and Canadian markets are closed for Family Day.

Stocks in London climbed on Monday in a quiet start to the week.

NatWest led the way on the FTSE 100 and climbed 4.8%, as it started its previously announced £750 million share buyback programme, which the bank will complete by January 15 next year.

The firm was also rebounding from a 4.1% fall on Friday after it released its annual results.

Defence stocks were also higher on Monday after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Britain must “go faster” on defence spending.

The Prime Minister has already committed to increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP next year and 3% after the next election.

But the BBC has reported he is now mulling bringing forward the 3% target to 2029, after the head of the UK’s armed forces set out the “moral” case for rearmament.

Asked about the reports at an event in London on Monday, Sir Keir would not confirm that he was considering bringing forward the target, but said Europe needed to “step up when it comes to defence and security”.

He said: “We have a threat of Russian aggression. In a few days’ time it’s the four-year anniversary of the start of the conflict in Ukraine.

“We want a just and lasting peace, but that will not extinguish the Russian threat, and we need to be alert to that, because that’s going to affect every single person in this room, every single person in this country, so we need to step up.

“That means on defence spending, we need to go faster.”

In response, Melrose Industries shares climbed 3.9%, Babcock International was up 3.5% and BAE Systems advanced 3.0%.

On the FTSE 250 index, Pinewood Technologies sank 33% after former suitor Apax Partners said it no longer intends to make a takeover offer.

Late last month, Pinewood responded to press speculation by saying it was in discussions with Apax regarding a possible cash offer of 500 pence per share, following multiple earlier approaches.

London-based private equity firm Apax on Friday confirmed it would not be making a formal offer, “in light of the prevailing challenging market conditions”.

Pinewood stressed that it “remains very confident in the positive long-term prospects for the group”, given its “long-standing” partnerships with original equipment manufacturers.

“Pinewood is a technology provider to car retailers and manufacturers and has gone big in AI-related services. Two years ago, that strategic development would have attracted hordes of investors wanting exposure to all things AI. In 2026, the reverse is true as investors panic about companies being disrupted by the big AI platform providers including Anthropic and OpenAI,” noted AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth.

“It’s notable that Pinewood’s share price hasn’t simply given up the share price spike from when Apax first revealed takeover interest. The shares have fallen even further as investors are now worrying why a big-name bidder has suddenly walked away, and whether Pinewood is going to be lumped with the multitude of other stocks that have struggled this year due to AI disruption-related fears.”

Among small caps, shares in Pebble Beach Systems jumped 25% after it said it won a five-year contract worth an initial £1.3 million in support of a “tier-1 US-based streaming company”.

The broadcasting automation solutions firm said the contract is being implemented to support the end-customer’s expansion into live sports broadcasting. As such, Pebble will provide support and maintenance services over the five-year contract term.

While the company is withholding the name of its customer, Pebble said its relationship with its “global partner” is well-established, “with the two having worked together for many years”.

Brent oil was higher at 68.42 dollars a barrel on Monday afternoon from 68.08 dollars late Friday. Gold was up at 4,985.30 dollars an ounce from 4,932.33 dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were NatWest Group, up 27.60p at 607.80p, Melrose Industries, up 25.00p at 667.00p, Babcock International, up 47.00p, at 1,346.00p, BAE Systems, up 61.00p at 2,029.00p, and Metlen Energy & Metals, up 1.05p at 36.30p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Mondi, down 40.80p, at 913.80p, Barratt Redrow, down 15.00p at 373.90p, St James’s Place, down 48.00p at 1,197.50p, Relx, down 83.00p at 2,174.00p, and Berkeley Group, down 132.00p at 4,302.00p.

On Tuesday’s economic calendar is UK unemployment data, German and Canadian consumer price index figures and a reading from the New York empire state manufacturing index.

A slate of full-year results are expected in the UK on Tuesday morning, including miner Antofagasta, hotel firm InterContinental Hotels Group and soft drinks bottler Coca-Cola Europacific Partners.

Contributed by Alliance News