Here are the business stories making the headlines across the UK this morning.

CHC to sell Babcock North Sea helicopter business

CHC will sell the former Babcock North Sea helicopter business to South African firm Ultimate Aviation Group, according to an exclusive report in Energy Voice.

The deal, expected to complete in Q1 of this year, comes after the UK competition watchdog ordered the sale of the Babcock business – which CHC acquired in September 2021 – arguing it would “significantly reduce rivalry” in the North Sea.

CHC said the sale and purchase agreement was signed in December, but needs to be cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

North Sea boss formally enters race to buy Man Utd

Ineos has entered the bidding process to buy Manchester United, according to an exclusive report in the Times.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest men, has confirmed that he is officially in the running to purchase the club from the Glazer family.

Parties have to register their interest with the merchant bank running the sale for the Glazers. Bids are expected from the United States, the Middle East and Asia, but Ratcliffe — who is worth more than £6billion — is the first to publicly confirm his interest.

“We have formally put ourselves into the process,” a spokesman for the petrochemicals billionaire confirmed on Tuesday.

EU biometric border system faces more delays

A new EU border control IT system which sparked fears of summer holiday queues at Dover has been delayed again.

The Entry/Exit System was due to be introduced in late May, having already been pushed back from last year. A new timetable will aim to have the technology in place by the end of 2023, the BBC says.

Under the scheme people entering the bloc from non-EU countries - including the UK - will need to register fingerprints and a photo with their passport details.

Cake in the office should be viewed like passive smoking, says health chief

Bringing cake into the office should be seen as harmful to your colleagues in the same way as passive smoking, Britain’s top food watchdog has said.

Professor Susan Jebb, chairwoman of the Food Standards Agency, also expressed frustration with ministers’ decision to delay a television watershed for junk food advertising, which she said led to a “complete market failure” that marginalised healthy products.

Speaking in The Times, she urged doctors to be more willing to broach the topic of patients’ weight and offer diet help, saying it was bad for the nation’s health that medics “mostly ignore it”.

Travel disruption expected after further snow

Police have urged people living in parts of Scotland covered by an amber weather warning to avoid making unnecessary journeys.

The warning covers large parts of the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire and northern areas of Tayside and Fife following high winds, snow and thunderstorms overnight.

Meanwhile, Aberdeenshire Council said snowfall last night will bring "hazardous" conditions today and warned motorists to only travel if it's "absolutely essential".

Brace for summer travel chaos, warns Ryanair boss

Holidaymakers have been told to prepare for disruption to summer flights because of air traffic control strikes and the war in Ukraine.

Michael O’Leary, chief executive of Ryanair, told The Times that strikes by air traffic controllers in France risked “shutting everybody down” if a dispute over pension reform dragged into the summer.

Eurocontrol, which manages air traffic in Europe, anticipates “major air traffic flow management delays” this summer in a repeat of disruption last year.

UK battery start-up collapses into administration

UK battery start-up Britishvolt has collapsed into administration, with the majority of its 232 staff made redundant with immediate effect.

Employees were told the news at an all-staff meeting on Tuesday morning.

The firm had planned to build a giant factory to make electric car batteries in Blyth, Northumberland. Ministers had hailed it as a "levelling up" opportunity that would boost the region's economy and support the future of UK car making.

But Britishvolt struggled to turn a profit and ran out of money.

Anti-ageing drug moves a step closer

A landmark experiment has given a first glimpse of how lifespans could be lengthened with an anti-ageing drug.

The Times reports today that researchers were able to extend the longevity of mice using a technique that may soon be tested in humans.

The study is the first to show how cellular reprogramming, used for years to rejuvenate individual cells in Petri dishes, could be turned into a therapy. The ultimate aim would be a drug that makes people biologically younger, boosting resilience to a host of diseases, including cancer and dementia.

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