Oct 16 (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

More than 2,000 jobs are at risk at Marston's PLC after the pub group warned it would have to cut costs because of the government's new restrictions on trading. https://bit.ly/3lVrJQV

The co-founder and former chief executive of Wework, Adam Neumann, has invested $30 million in Hello Alfred, a six-year-old start-up that offers a personal butler service to residents in blocks of flats. https://bit.ly/3m3Hjdp

The Guardian

Britain's banks are not ready for negative interest rates, according to the chairman of NatWest, Howard Davies adding that there would be technical issues and many contractual issues. https://bit.ly/3k3XMxv

New lockdown restrictions to be imposed across much of England from Saturday could be the "death knell" for many pubs and restaurants, the government has been told, as business groups voiced concerns about a wave of job losses within weeks. https://bit.ly/3dwNSlq

The Telegraph

Two of Britain's largest airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd, were paid more than 70 million pounds ($90.32 million) of taxpayer cash to fetch PPE from China, according to new data which threatens to reignite the row over tendering at the height of the COVID-19 crisis. https://bit.ly/31btDoi

The billionaire brothers buying Asda, Zuber and Mohsin Issa, will speak to bondholders in their petrol station empire EG Group on Friday, after its auditor, Deloitte, suddenly quit. https://bit.ly/3nXUiz1

Sky News

Sky News has seen a letter to London Mayor Sadiq Khan from Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, in which she said that his request for the capital to be moved to a higher risk status would be "incredibly damaging without additional financial support and urge you to work with us to secure that is in place before any changes to London's classification is made". https://bit.ly/2ItefgE

Sky News has learnt that ministers have told Transport for London (TfL), which is chaired by the London mayor Sadiq Khan, that it will have to introduce the reforms if it is to secure a bailout package of a 1 billion pounds ($1.29 billion) ahead of a funding deadline in the coming days. https://bit.ly/2SWmio7

The Independent

Two of the oldest bases in the Ryanair network at Cork and Shannon are to close for the winter. https://bit.ly/3k7XaqA ($1 = 0.7750 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)