Wednesday newspaper round-up: Manchester United, Ovo, Royal Mail, HP

The Glazer family has announced it is “commencing a process to explore strategic alternatives” for Manchester United, potentially bringing an end to its 17-year ownership of the club. On the day it was also confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo had left Old Trafford by mutual consent, a statement from United on Tuesday night revealed plans to identify new investment that could lead to a potential sale. The club said the process led by their American owners will consider a number of options “including new investment into the club, a sale, or other transactions involving the company”. – Guardian

Customers of the energy supplier Ovo were left shocked and dismayed when they received bills of up to £49,000 because of data errors that led to vastly overinflated energy projections for some households. Julie Lines [not her real name] was told she owed £44,800 for two months’ supply to her one-bedroom flat. “I’d been asked to send photos of my meters in August as Ovo believed there was an issue,” she said. “I did so and my account went from £600 in credit to £19,000 in debt. Despite Ovo assuring me this was a mistake, the debt rose to over £44,000 in September.” – Guardian

Tens of thousands of British traders have been left out of pocket by the implosion of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, US bankruptcy proceedings have revealed. Some 8pc of FTX's users were based in the UK, a Delaware court heard, suggesting that 80,000 Britons may have lost money. FTX left around one million creditors, the vast majority of whom were unsecured users of the exchange. – Telegraph

Royal Mail has made an improved pay offer in a final effort to avoid 10 days of strike action by post men and women in the run-up to Christmas. The FTSE 250 company is understood to have offered a 9pc pay rise spread over 18 months, rather than two years, as previously tabled. Royal Mail's “best and final” offer to union leaders has also been sweetened by rowing back on its demand to force staff to work on Sundays. Meanwhile, “family-friendly” working hours are to be offered so that posties can finish in time to pick their children up from school. – Telegraph

One of America’s best-known computer makers last night became the latest big technology company to announce heavy job cuts. HP said it expected to reduce its 61,000 global workforce by about 4,000 to 6,000 by the end of 2025 financial year. – The Times