PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Jan 18

Headlines - UK should fix Brexit red tape, says trade group https://on.ft.com/3KnEosE - UK looks at payments to energy suppliers to shield consumers from high bills https://on.ft.com/3A7KqsJ - BBC output and services under threat from licence fee freeze https://on.ft.com/33qJgg8 - Unilever faces mounting investor backlash over bid for GSK consumer health unit https://on.ft.com/3FwEkDz - Atlantia wins 950 mln euros bid to acquire Siemens' traffic lights division https://on.ft.com/3fyLAnN Overview - The British government should fix post-Brexit red tape over customs and trade processes and issue more visas to address labour shortages, according to the British Chambers of Commerce.

The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. Headlines

- UK should fix Brexit red tape, says trade group https://on.ft.com/3KnEosE - UK looks at payments to energy suppliers to shield consumers from high bills https://on.ft.com/3A7KqsJ

- BBC output and services under threat from licence fee freeze https://on.ft.com/33qJgg8 - Unilever faces mounting investor backlash over bid for GSK consumer health unit https://on.ft.com/3FwEkDz

- Atlantia wins 950 mln euros bid to acquire Siemens' traffic lights division https://on.ft.com/3fyLAnN Overview

- The British government should fix post-Brexit red tape over customs and trade processes and issue more visas to address labour shortages, according to the British Chambers of Commerce. - The UK is exploring a radical intervention in the power market under which the state would make payments to energy suppliers when wholesale gas prices rise sharply in a bid to soften the blow to consumers.

- The BBC has been blindsided by one the toughest funding settlements in the public sector, that will force cuts with implications for the broadcaster’s output, staffing and ambition. - Unilever is facing a growing investor backlash against its 50 billion pounds ($68.25 billion) bid for the consumer health unit of GSK, as its share price tumbled to its lowest level in nearly five years.

- Atlantia, the Benetton-controlled Italian infrastructure group at the centre of the Genoa bridge disaster, has won a 950 million euros ($1.08 billion) bid to acquire a Siemens unit that operates traffic lights in more than 600 cities around the world. ($1 = 0.7327 pounds) ($1 = 0.8765 euros) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)