PRESS DIGEST-Financial Times - July 20

- The British arm of Spanish lender Santander joins a chorus of banks including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest announcing pay increases for lower-paid staff in UK after inflation in Britain hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May. - Repeated alterations by successive British transport ministers has wasted almost a fifth of the 1 billion pounds ($1.20 billion) spent so far on the country's biggest rail upgrade, the 76-mile Transpennine line, and has delayed it by more than a decade, according to the National Audit Office.

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

- Ocado Retail chief Melanie Smith to quit https://on.ft.com/3RXjULo - Royal Mail postal workers vote to strike https://on.ft.com/3PeERj3

- Banks and insurers boost UK staff pay to combat cost of living https://on.ft.com/3ombyix - Ministers wasted 190 mln stg 'repeatedly' altering rail upgrade plans https://on.ft.com/3coopy8

Overview - Ocado Group, the online supermarket and technology firm, said Melanie Smith, the CEO of its Ocado Retail joint venture with Marks & Spencer, would leave the business at the end of next month.

- More than 115,000 postal workers at Royal Mail have voted to strike over pay, trade union CWU said, putting them on course for what could be the biggest industrial action to hit Britain this summer. - The British arm of Spanish lender Santander joins a chorus of banks including Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest announcing pay increases for lower-paid staff in UK after inflation in Britain hit a 40-year high of 9.1% in May.

- Repeated alterations by successive British transport ministers has wasted almost a fifth of the 1 billion pounds ($1.20 billion) spent so far on the country's biggest rail upgrade, the 76-mile Transpennine line, and has delayed it by more than a decade, according to the National Audit Office. ($1 = 0.8333 pounds) (Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)