UK headed for historic slump as retail sales slide, firms close

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's economy looks set for a widely feared record contraction after figures showed retail spending plunged by more than a quarter and one in four firms stopped trading temporarily due to the coronavirus lockdown. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported on Thursday a 27% year-on-year drop in sales in the two weeks to April 4, which included the period after the March 23 start of a lockdown that has shuttered shops other than supermarkets."The closure of non-essential..