UK retailers suffer sharp drop in sales

Cold weather and more cautious shoppers dent sales as spending further shifts from goods to experiences, says the British Retail Consortium

British retailers suffered the sharpest drop in sales for eight months in April as more cautious shoppers reined in spending and cold weather affected sales of spring and summer clothing, industry figures show.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said like-for-like sales fell 0.9% in April on a year earlier, the biggest drop since last August. The weak April performance compounded pressure on retailers after a sales drop of 0.7% in March.

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