PRESS DIGEST-British Business - Jan 31

Jan 31 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

- British home improvement retailer Homebase collapsed into administration owing more than 650 million pounds ($806.98 million) to unsecured creditors including the retailers AO World AO.L, Halfords HFD.L and the Hut THG.L, it has been disclosed.

- British health secretary Wes Streeting has abandoned pledges on women's health and dementia as he halved the number of NHS targets in a drive to end a "culture of overspending".

The Guardian

- Britain's Royal Mail IDSI.L is set to be allowed to deliver second-class letters on alternate weekdays and to stop Saturday deliveries under proposals to shake up postal service rules announced by the industry regulator, Ofcom.

- Staff at the Daily Mail and MailOnline have been told to expect job cuts by the publisher as it unveiled plans to combine its digital and print editorial and commercial teams into one seven-day operation.

The Telegraph

- Abu Dhabi-backed group RedBird IMI has stepped up discussions to merge All3Media, the independent production house behind The Traitors, which it acquired for 1.2 billion pounds last year, with ITV ITV.L Studios to create a film and TV powerhouse worth almost 3 billion pounds.

- Channel 4 has demanded that tech giants be forced to promote mainstream news to fight the spread of misinformation on social media.

Sky News

- India's richest family, Ambani, has clinched a landmark deal to buy a 49% stake in the Oval Invincibles in a deal that will unite the London-based team with the ownership of the Indian Premier League's Mumbai Indians.

- Former Aviva chief Mark Wilson has agreed to become the new chairman of the personal lines insurer, Policy Expert which is jointly owned by Cinven and a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi state fund.

($1 = 0.8055 pounds)