Aug 24 (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

Brewer SABMiller Plc has won the backing of the High Court in London to hold two polls among its shareholders over the 79 billion pound ($104.21 billion) takeover offer from Anheuser Busch InBev SA. http://bit.ly/2bEi6FJ

UK employers are adopting a "business as usual" approach to hiring and investment since the Brexit referendum, despite confidence falling over the past three months, a report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation says. http://bit.ly/2bEiFzv

The Guardian

Britain appears to be bouncing back from the post-Brexit panic in better shape than expected, after a string of indicators showed growth across the manufacturing sector, the building industry and in consumer spending. http://bit.ly/2bEiyDJ

Local authority pension funds are planning to back a shareholder resolution calling for an independent review of Sports Direct International Plc's treatment of employees. The retail group will hold its annual general meeting on Sept. 7 in Shirebrook, Derbyshire, where shareholders will vote on a trade union-backed plan to commission an investigation into working practices that will report back within six months. http://bit.ly/2bEhX52

The Telegraph

Geert Bourgeois, the minister-president of Flanders, has proposed a radical North Sea Union linking Britain to a cluster of regional states to cushion the Brexit shock, a sign that European leaders are starting to look for creative ways to heal the referendum rift. "More and more people now agree that there has to be a 'soft Brexit," he told the Daily Telegraph. http://bit.ly/2bEjF6l

Hopes the steel crisis which has cost thousands of UK jobs might be easing have been dashed by new production data for the global industry. Worldwide production of steel rose 1.4 percent year-on-year in July - the first increase since January 2015 - but output from Britain's embattled steel sector plunged, highlighting the continuing pressure it is under. http://bit.ly/2bEk4FX

Sky News

Lloyds Banking Group Plc Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio will circulate a memo to the bank's 75,000 employees on Wednesday in which he will express "deep regret" for any embarrassment that an alleged extramarital affair had caused to the company reputation, Sky News has learnt. http://bit.ly/2bEgcEW

Workers at Southern Railway are going to stage a 48-hour walkout next month in the long-running row over train guards. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union has announced its members will walk out on Sept. 7 and 8. http://bit.ly/2bEgkEz

The Independent

Former BHS boss Dominic Chapell has been banned from driving for six months for speeding. The 49-year-old was driving a green Range Rover on Churchill Way, Andover, when police clocked him driving at an average speed of 63.9 miles (103 km) per hour in a 40 mph zone on April 6. http://ind.pn/2bEgTyj ($1 = 0.7581 pounds) (Compiled by Ismail Shakil in Bengaluru)