PRESS DIGEST-British Business - December 18

Dec 18 (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

- Oil and gas major BP BP.L has appointed Meg O'Neill, the head of Australia's Woodside Energy WDS.AX, as its next CEO

- Bookmaker Flutter's FLTRF.L brand Paddy Power Betfair will pay 2 million pounds ($2.67 million) to settle regulatory failures after an investigation revealed failures related to customer interactions.

The Guardian

- UK's conciliation service Acas (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) has offered to help try to break the deadlock in the resident doctors' strike in England.

- UK Reform leader Nigel Farage is facing a possible second investigation into allegations he overspent on his Clacton election battle after the official watchdog said it was assessing the claims.

The Telegraph

- Britain faces a 8.75 billion pound ($11.69 billion) bill after Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed a deal to rejoin the European Union's student exchange programme.

- German company Höfner has filed for bankruptcy protection in Bavaria as manufacturers struggle with rising costs.

Sky News

- Fujitsu's 6702.T British operations boss Paul Patterson will face a fresh grilling from MPs next month amid pressure on the company to fork out hundreds of millions of pounds as part of the vast Horizon IT scandal compensation bill.

- Private equity firm Permira has enlisted help from Alan Middleton, the former chief executive of PA Consulting Group, as part of its pursuit of Interpath Advisory.

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