CORRECTED - PRESS DIGEST - British business - Aug 4

(Corrects Telegraph item on Sainsbury's to say may extend to Saturday deliveries instead of Sunday deliveries)

The Times

GUARDIAN MEDIA ADMITS THE OBSERVER MAY BE CLOSED

Guardian Media Group [GRMDG.UL], the owner of The Observer, said on Monday the closure of the 218-year old newspaper was being actively considered as the company tries to reduce losses that totalled just short of 90 million pounds in 2008. In a memo sent to all staff, chief executive Carolyn McCall said the company, which also owns The Guardian newspaper, was struggling with both the recession and "structural change" as advertising moves online. Guardian Media Group is owned by the Scott Trust, which exists to safeguard the future of The Guardian -- but not the world's oldest Sunday newspaper -- "in perpetuity".

PBR'S 48 MILLION POUND DEAL WITH REUBENS FALLS APART

The future of Premium Bars & Restaurants has come under question following the collapse of a 48 million pound sale of the AIM-listed owner of Living Room and Prohibition Bar & Grill chains, to the Reuben brothers. Sources close to the situation suggested the deal fell apart at the end of last week after the wealthy property entrepreneurs, who already own 32.5 percent of the group, sought to change the structure of the deal, reducing the amount of debt they would have assumed. Under the original terms, the Reubens, who are understood to remain interested, would have bought the group via a pre-pack administration.

The Daily Telegraph

RIVALS SNAP UP ASSETS AS DAWSON PLACES SUBSIDIARIES.

Dawson Holdings DWN.L has offloaded parts from its failed newspaper and magazine distribution business to rival Smiths News (SNWS.L) for 1.5 million pounds and to John Menzies (MNZS.L) for 500,000 pounds. Smiths, which will take on about 1,800 of Dawson's staff, said the deal would add about 250 million pounds to its sales in the year to the end of August. Separately, Dawson said Surridge Dawson Ltd and Solent SD Ltd, its two subsidiaries which comprised its news distribution business, had been placed into administration.

SAINSBURY'S CONTRACT FOR HDN

Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) drive to expand its non-food business has been given a new boost after the supermarket chain awarded a contract for home deliveries. The company has named Home Delivery Network, Britain's biggest dedicated home delivery and collection service, as its primary carrier of parcels for home deliveries of non-food items ordered online. HDN, which will provide a 24- and 48-hour service that may extend to Saturday deliveries, already has contracts with 120 retailers, including Tesco Direct, and deals with more than 120 million items a year.

ELEMENTIS SLIPS INTO THE RED BUT SEES SHARE PRICE SURGE

Elementis (ELM.L), the UK-based chemicals manufacturer, has kept its dividend static despite suffering a first-half loss of 30.2 million pounds, compared with a profit of 26.8 million pounds in the corresponding period of 2008. The news sent the shares up seven pence, or 22.2 percent, at 38.50 pence on Monday. The company, which employs about 1,500 people, saw revenue fall from 186.9 million pounds to 172.2 million pounds after a plunge in consumer demand. Chief executive David Dutro said the group's decision to pay an interim dividend of 1.5 pence on October 9 showed "confidence in our business model, which has been strengthened by the structural changes we have made".

The Independent

AREA MANAGER PULLS HIS WAY TO TOP AT MITCHELLS

Shares in Mitchells & Butlers (MAB.L) rose by three pence to 268 pence on Monday after the owner of the All Bar One and O'Neills bar chains announced the appointment of Adam Fowle, a former district manager, as its new chief executive. Fowle, who was acting as chief executive after the departure of the incumbent Tim Clarke in May, described Mitchells & Butlers as a "great business with tremendous prospects". He joined the group's board in 2007, when he was named managing director for the restaurants estate, which includes Harvester, and has also managed the pubs and bars division.

ATKINS WILL BE NEW HAMMERSON CHIEF

Hammerson (HMSO.L) has appointed David Atkins, the managing director of its UK arm, to replace John Richards as its new chief executive. He will take up his new position in September on a basic salary of 500,000 pounds a year. The Anglo-French property group reported its results for the first six months of the year on Monday, saying the rate of decline in net asset value slowed in the period amid stabilising UK property prices. The company, which reported a loss of 818.5 million pounds compared to 417.1 million pounds in the corresponding period the year before, said that its total property assets at the end of June stood at 4.7 billion pounds, down from 6.5 billion pounds at the end of 2008.

888 BETS ON BUYING UNDISCLOSED TARGET

888 (888.L), the online gaming group, has unveiled expansion plans after it posted upbeat second-quarter results, boosted by strong trading from its casino, bingo and sports betting websites. Chief executive Gigi Levy said the group was in discussions with a number of targets and expected a deal to be finalised soon. The company said operating income in the period stood at 61 million dollars, a seven percent increase on the first quarter, while casino income was 29 million dollars, up 10 percent on the previous quarter.

The Guardian

GREEN STORE WHOLE FOODS 36 MILLION POUNDS IN THE RED

Whole Foods WFMI.O, the organic retailer, reported a 36 million pound operating shortfall for the year to September 30 2008, compared to a 9.9 million pounds loss in the year before. However, the group's troubleshooter Jeff Turnas, who was parachuted in to take control of its five stores across Britain in July, said he will not give up on the UK market. He said that underlying performance showed losses remained broadly steady, but the company had been forced to take an additional accounting of 27.1 million pounds to signal altered expectations for the business.

OFCOM INSISTS MOBILE PHONE TRANSFERS BE REDUCED TO TWO HOURS

Ofcom proposed on Monday that mobile phone users will no longer need to call up their existing provider if they want to switch their number to another network. As part of its review of Britain's mobile number portability, the communications regulator also suggested that the mobile phone transfers should be reduced from two days to two hours. Ofcom's proposals provoked a neutral response by Britain's four biggest mobile phone operators. Orange said it was "considering whether or not the speed and process of number porting is a major customer concern", while Vodafone said: "Our goal is a system that's convenient, works reliably and lets customers make informed decisions."

SLUMP CUTS BRITAIN'S VALUE FOR FIRST TIME IN 15 YEARS

New figures issued by the Office for National Statistics have revealed that the total value of assets in Britain dropped in 2008 for the first time in 15 years, to seven trillion pounds. The figure represented a decline of two percent compared with 2007 but was still well ahead of the 4.2 trillion pounds total asset value recorded at the beginning of the decade. The ONS report said the value of housing, the biggest single asset class, slumped by almost 400 billion pounds, or nine percent, to 3.9 trillion pounds. The value of vehicles in Britain dropped by 25 billion pounds to 160 billion pounds in the same period, while total agricultural assets remained fairly steady at 55 billion pounds.

Prepared for Reuters by Durrants.