Ikea moves to high streets

Ikea is to bring its retailing revolution to the high street with a series of smaller stores in towns and cities throughout Britain.

The Swedish furnishings giant has submitted plans for a town centre store in Hillingdon as the first step in circumventing government policy against out-of-town warehouses.

Further projects are planned near transport hubs or other town centre sites.

The change of tack has come about after a long struggle against planning policy. In February, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott refused plans for a £30 million store near Stockport. Ikea has also been searching, without success, for a site on the south coast for four years.

The Hillingdon plans include a six-storey mixed-use scheme on a 4.5 acre site next to Hillingdon Tube station. The development will accommodate a 250,000 sq ft store, as well as 240 oneand two-bedroom flats, of which 117 will be affordable housing.

It will also include a public square fronting the Tube station and several other shops. There will be 655 car park spaces for the store and 566 other spaces.

Ikea plans to submit an application for a second such scheme near another transport hub in the UK by the end of the year. It wants to have 10 more stores within eight years.

The entry into mixed-use development is a dramatic switch for Ikea, which will be forced to trade from much smaller new stores. It is looking for sites almost a quarter of the size of its normal requirements in the UK.

The mixed-use strategy is an innovative way around the longstanding problem of gaining planning consent. It is also likely to appeal to local authority planning departments because of the provision of affordable housing.