Sunday British Business - Nov. 10

LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - British newspapers reported the following business stories on Sunday:

Sunday Times Green (Irish: GN1.IR - news) mulls BHS sale as bidders circle A pack of hungry suitors has begun circling BHS in an attempt to lure Philip Green into offloading the struggling department store chain. A New York vulture fund, a South African retail mogul and a number of turnaround specialists are hoping to persuade Green to part with the high street stalwart. Leading the potential bidders is Christo Wiese, South Africa's third-richest man with a fortune estimated at more than 2 billion pounds. Serco in shock profit warning Serco is set this week to cap a turbulent six months with a profit warning that will dismay the City. Ray of hope for M&S Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) 's embattled chief executive received a fillip this weekend as research commissioned by a Japanese bank showed signs of tentative recovery in its crucial womenswear division. Bank hails rapid recovery The Bank of England is set to lift its growth and employment forecasts this week as Britain enjoys one of the strongest recoveries in the developed world. Top (Taiwan OTC: 8419.TWO - news) bosses call for Brussels shake-up A powerful alliance of business leaders from across northern Europe - including the chairman of HSBC, the boss of Swedish fashion chain H&M and the head of German food giant Dr Oetker - has urged an overhaul of the European Union. RSA boss to face grilling over Ireland Furious investors will this week confront Simon Lee, the chief executive of RSA, following revelations of a potential scandal in its Irish business that prompted the insurer's second profits warning in 3 days. Kazakh oil giant lines up City float A Kazakh oil company backed by steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal and the billionaire son-in-law of the country's president plans to launch a 1.5 billion pound listing in London this month. The deal is expected to land Zhaikmunai in the FTSE 250 index of top British companies. Biotech boffins cash in with 400 mln stg hayfever cure Circassia, an Oxford biotech company that is in the late stages of testing a treatment for cat allergies, has opened talks with potential advisors to work on a listing. House of Fraser's speedy sale House of Fraser is pushing ahead with its plans to go public at the beginning of next year. Rothschild's 39 million pound Bumi (Other OTC: VLLRF - news) bonanza Nat Rothschild is in line for a 39 million payday from a controversial deal to unravel Bumi, the troubled Indonesian coalminer he founded 3 years ago. Lloyds eyes bonus from pension caps Lloyds Banking Group is in line for an estimated 400 million pound windfall from a plan to cap the size of payouts from its final salary pension scheme. Pay rises will no longer lead to higher pension payouts at retirement under the Lloyds' proposals. Instead, the 35,000 Lloyds employees who are part of the scheme will be paid a pension calculated using their current salary. Frank Warren in public bout Sports promoter Frank Warren plans to float Box Nation, the cable television station devoted to boxing that he set up 2 years ago. Sunday Telegraph Energy bills could fall by 7 percent Britain's energy giants are to offer to cut bills by up to 7 percent if the government agrees to remove the cost of multi-billion pound green schemes. BAE CEO denies 'pressure' over yards The chief executive of BAE has denied that the decision to close the shipbuilding yard at Portsmouth and concentrate production on the River Clyde was due to government pressure. Vodafone to spend 1 bln stg upgrading UK network Vodafone is to increase its capital investment across the UK to more than 1 billion pounds as it seeks to upgrade its mobile network across London by boosting capacity.