New IKEA coming to Brighton shopping centre

A new IKEA store is coming to Brighton after its parent company purchased the city's main shopping centre.

Ingka Centres now own the Churchill Square Shopping Centre following negotiations with its previous owners, abdrn.

The new City store will be IKEA's third in the UK - and their first outside London.

The furniture retailer's high street sites are smaller than their out-of-town stores, and have a greater focus on encouraging sustainable travel and increasing accessibility for those without a car.

The Brighton store will contain around 6000 brands in store, with the full range able to be purchased for delivery using zero-emission vehicles.

It will also contain a Deli, where its famous meatballs can be bought.

The Swedish chain's Brighton store will also be their 23rd in the UK.

Peter Jelkeby, Country Retail Manager and Chief Sustainability Officer at IKEA UK & Ireland said:

“We’re delighted to continue expanding and investing throughout the UK to make it easier and more sustainable for people to shop at IKEA.

"Sussex has long been an area of interest to us, and we really look forward to bringing IKEA closer to where our customers live, work and socialise and becoming a part of this vibrant community.”

Ingka Centres' purchase of the Churchill Square Shopping Centre - which is visited by 11 million people each year - will also see it develop the centre's wider infrastructure.

This includes new retail and eating outlets and more charging points for electric vehicles in its car parks.

Cindy Andersen, Ingka Centres’ Managing Director, said:

“Brighton is known as a welcoming and progressive city, so it is a real privilege to take up responsibility for delivering a revitalised meeting place of which the many people can be truly proud.

"We are excited to strengthen our portfolio with a well-established shopping destination in the heart of the vibrant and growing city of Brighton and Hove. It fits perfectly into our global expansion strategy, allowing us to transform a traditional retail space to a meeting place that is much more than just a place to shop.”

Ms Andersen added:

"“We’ve proven in Hammersmith that traditional shopping centres have a strong future when they are adapted and constantly evolving to match the real needs of local communities. We’ll be working alongside our partners such as IKEA and the wider community to make everyday life better for the many people of Brighton, shaping and delivering an affordable, sustainable range of destination retail, restaurants, services and amenities.”

A spokesperson for abdrn said:

"We can confirm that the abrdn UK Shopping Centre Trust has sold Churchill Square, Brighton’s main shopping centre to Ingka Centres, part of the Ingka Group which also includes IKEA Retail.

"Having held the asset since the Trust was launched in 2005, it was felt the time had come to sell the centre and use the proceeds for other purposes.”