British stocks flat after retail sales drop

* FTSE 100 barely changed after retail sales figures

* WPP (LSE: WPP.L - news) falls after disappointing Q1 sales

* Pace (Other OTC: PCMXF - news) rallies on takeover bid

* William Hill (Other OTC: WIMHF - news) hit by tax, sports bets (Recasts, adds latest prices)

By Francesco Canepa and Lionel Laurent

LONDON, April 23 (Reuters) - Top British shares were left broadly unchanged on Thursday after an unexpected fall in national monthly retail sales offset a bump-up for utilities stocks just two weeks ahead of a general election.

While no single party is expected to win an outright majority on May 7, and experts predicting a kaleidoscope of possible outcomes, the stock market has shown few signs of edginess as some investors choose to stay steady rather than cash out on a market still trading near record highs.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) of retailers Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) , Sports Direct and Dixons were down 0.2 to 2 percent after retail data confounded expectations of a robust number, falling 0.5 percent in March compared with February.

However, supermarket chain Sainsbury rose after it said it would axe 800 store jobs in a drive to cut costs.

Utilities stocks including United Utilities (LSE: UU.L - news) and SSE were up more than 1 percent after a broker update from Citi said election volatility would affect the sector going forward, adding that National Grid (LSE: NG.L - news) was the most immune in its view. National Grid was up 0.6 percent at 1155 GMT.

Shares in WPP, the world's biggest advertising company, fell 1 percent after the company posted a slowdown in first-quarter like-for-like net sales, which traders said were more sluggish than anticipated.

"First (Other OTC: FSTC - news) take looks weak ... (and) implies a slowdown in February and March," a trader in London said.

The broader FTSE 100 index was flat at 7,028.28 points at 1155 GMT. The index has been struggling to make headway since hitting an all-time high of 7,119 last week.

Sentiment was dampened by a survey that showed private sector business growth in the euro zone, a key source of revenues for British firms, was weaker than forecast this month.

Eleven FTSE 100 companies, including mining and commodity trading firm Glencore (Xetra: A1JAGV - news) , went ex-dividend on Thursday, further weighing on the index.

Mid-cap set-top box maker Pace Plc surged 32 percent, however, after receiving a takeover offer from Network gear maker Arris Group Inc (NasdaqGS: ARRS - news) .

"The commercial and financial rationale of the deal makes good sense, with the only hurdle being gaining anti-trust clearance, which while likely is not certain," analysts at Numis wrote in a note, upgrading the stock to "neutral" from "sell".

Bookmaker William Hill fell 3.8 percent after posting a 19 percent fall in first-quarter operating profit, hurt by additional tax charges and the impact of its worst ever sports betting week.

Electronics distribution company Premier Farnell (LSE: PFL.L - news) 's rose 3.5 percent after Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS - news) upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "neutral", describing it as the "logical share to own ... for pure dividend yield". (Additional reporting by Alasdair Pal; Editing by Gareth Jones and Crispian Balmer)