Jan 29 (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 - Richard Caring has kicked off an auction for his stake in The Ivy and its sister restaurants with his advisers pegging the price tag at 1 billion pounds ($1.27 billion) on the business.

- A NatWest public share sale could be imminent and take place as soon as June, with UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt preparing the ground for a multi-billion-pound offer.

The Guardian - Channel 4 is set to announce plans to cut almost 250 jobs, or about 15% of the 1,300 workforce of full-time staff, as the British broadcaster adjusts to the decline in demand for advertising.

- Tata Steel, the owner of the Port Talbot steelworks, is expected to argue before MPs on the Welsh affairs committee that it is open to investment in a new plant to make direct reduced iron, in a bid to mount a defence of its decision to cut thousands of jobs at its south Wales plant.

The Telegraph - British energy supplier Octopus Energy is in talks with Kyiv-based DTEK, Ukraine's biggest private energy company, about how the two businesses can work together to help power Ukraine as it rebuilds its electricity grid following the destruction caused by Russia's invasion.

Sky News - UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced plans to ban disposable vapes and is set to unveil new powers to restrict vape flavours in a push to crack down their use among children.

($1 = 0.7877 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)