Sept 30 (Reuters) - 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

- GSK's GSK.L CEO Emma Walmsley will step down at the end of the year and be replaced by insider Luke Miels, the drugmaker said on Monday, a surprise switch as the British firm looks to rev up its pipeline and navigate U.S. trade tariff uncertainty.

- British energy major BP BP.L will go ahead with developing a $5 billion offshore drilling project in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, underscoring its commitment to the U.S. region to rebuild its oil and gas business.

The Guardian

- AstraZeneca AZN.L laid out plans to switch to a direct listing of its shares in the United States, as the drugmaker seeks to maximise gains from a booming U.S. stock market, even as it said it was not exiting London.

- Jaguar Land Rover said it will restart parts of its manufacturing operations "in the coming days" in the latest stage of its complex effort to recover from a crippling cyber-attack.

The Telegraph

- Hobbycraft-owner Modella Capital has bought 156 of U.S.-based jewellery chain Claire's stores in Britain and Ireland, saving around 1,000 jobs, with discussions ongoing for Claire's stores in France, Italy, Poland.

Sky News

- Videogame developer Electronic Arts EA.O has agreed to sell itself to a group of private investors in a deal that values the maker of "Battlefield" and "Madden NFL" at $55 billion, which if completed would be the largest leveraged buyout in history.

The Independent

- Royal Mail has announced plans to recruit approximately 20,000 temporary workers to bolster its delivery operations during the busy Christmas period.

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)

((globalnewsmonitoring@thomsonreuters.com))