Sept 25 - 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 Bank of England should raise interest rates now to ensure that future increases will be gentle enough to avoid a later shock that might damage the recovery says Ian McCafferty, an external member of the monetary policy committee. (http://thetim.es/1KxZD6F)

Peer-to-peer lender Funding Circle is planning to float an investment trust to raise 150 million pounds ($228.39 million)for credit-hungry small businesses. (http://thetim.es/1KxZJv5)

The Guardian

Britain's financial services sector could retain its pre-eminent global position even if voters opt to leave the European Union, according to economics consultancy Capital Economics.(http://bit.ly/1KxZRLa)

UK department store chain John Lewis could have to restructure staff benefits in order to pay for the "national living wage", said Andy Street, managing director of the department store chain. (http://bit.ly/1Ky0tjW)

The Telegraph

France has opened the door to full-blown treaty changes in a bid to keep Britain in the EU, warning that it would be a grave mistake to disregard the legitimate demands of London. (http://bit.ly/1Ky0wfv)

Markets are right to push back their expectations of a UK interest rate rise as global growth slows, according to the deputy governor of the Bank of England, Ben Broadbent. (http://bit.ly/1KCDl0r)

Sky News

A careless Downing Street official has revealed that the government is reviving plans to privatise Channel 4, despite recent denials. Photographer Steve Back captured a secret Whitehall document tucked under the official's arm, headed "Assessment of Channel 4 Corporation Reform Options". (http://bit.ly/1Ky0KU0)

The Independent

UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, is trying to tempt China into plugging billions into British transport, energy and infrastructure projects to transform the north in the coming decades. (http://ind.pn/1Ky0YKV)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government has faced charges of being "in bed" with the German car industry and of deliberately ignoring EU demands to outlaw the kind of car computer software which manipulated the levels of Volkswagen AG diesel exhaust emissions. (http://ind.pn/1Ky159d)

($1 = 0.6568 pounds) (Compiled by Parikshit Mishra in Bengaluru)