April 20 (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

The head of High Speed Two told MPs that he and his executives had done no checks and had not monitored a former HS2 chief of staff at the centre of a conflict of interest fiasco with its key contractor on the 55 billion pound ($70.26 billion)London-Birmingham rail line. http://bit.ly/2ooHzGc

The Guardian

The government will not delay tackling rising electricity and gas bills that are hurting consumers because of Theresa May's decision to call a surprise general election for June 8, business secretary Greg Clark said. http://bit.ly/2otvAGu

The government has agreed a 2.3 billion pound sale of the Green Investment Bank to the Australian bank Macquarie, according to sources close to the process. The privatisation of the bank was expected in January but signoff was delayed in the face of stiff political opposition and wrangling over the final price. http://bit.ly/2ooH535

The Telegraph

Communities secretary Sajid Javid has downplayed concerns that foreign investors are buying up swathes of London property as he promised government reforms to the housing market would continue despite the upcoming general election. http://bit.ly/2pE4bGA

Warehouse property developer Segro Plc has so far this year signed new leasing deals worth twice as much as the same time last year, showing the demand for industrial property continues to hold up. http://bit.ly/2oQHtID

Sky News

A former owner of Boots the Chemist is weighing a $6 billion takeover bid for the U.S.-based parent company of Holland & Barrett, the high street health foods chain. KKR & Co is among a small number of potential bidders for NBTY - a vitamins and nutritional supplements manufacturer previously known as Nature's Bounty. http://bit.ly/2oWWeeO

Workers at three BMW plants in the United Kingdom have started a 24-hour strike over proposed changes to pensions. http://bit.ly/2pT7WVf

The Independent

Tesco Plc has announced that it is selling its optician business to Vision Express, as it continues to slim down and focus on core operations in its home market. http://ind.pn/2omeR95

($1 = 0.7828 pounds) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)