Exeter's IKEA - Is The Hype Justified?

With headlines triumphantly blasting the news from every street, the people of Exeter can hardly have failed to notice this winter’s big news: IKEA has been approved for opening in Exeter! A vast wonderland of flatpacks and meatballs will be built off the A379 near Sandy Park, raking in an estimated turnover of £52 million annually, and bringing hundreds of much-needed jobs to the area. Concerns have been raised about the viability of the infrastructure, given the vast hordes of people who are predicted to make pilgrimage to IKEA’s newest home, but overall the proposal has been met with an almost unanimous enthusiasm bordering upon glee. However, while IKEA will undoubtedly bring jobs and a boost to the area – will it really be the economic panacea which people would have us believe?

An Old Story

The new store is believed to have the ability to bring in up to £19,500,000 purely from people travelling in from other areas to browse our IKEA. Of course, the people of Exeter may be cynical about such predictions. They have heard a lot of this sort of thing before. It is over ten years since the MET Office moved to Exeter – a move which would, Devonians were promised, supply local people with jobs and transform Exeter from a sequestered cathedral city into an economic powerhouse. In reality, of course, MET Office jobs largely went to incomers, who followed the office from its old location in Bracknell. This is not to say that the economy did not gain as a result of the MET Office move, for it did, but most local people have noticed nary a difference.

Then, of course, there was the redevelopment of Princesshay in 2007. The people of Exeter were enthusiastically informed that this would launch Exeter as the shopping capital of the Peninsula, drawing people from all over the South West to bask in the soaring commercial Mecca that was Princesshay. Again, the development certainly proved an advance upon what was there before, with Exeter’s commercial profitability gaining – yet (perhaps due to the Recession), the actuality was nowhere near as earth-shakingly positive as that which was predicted. In 2008, Princesshay won an award for ‘Best Medium-Sized Shopping Centre in Europe’ (which feels a little like being damned with faint praise), and it remains profitable, but its fame and fortune have never come near to reaching the extravagant heights predicted.

Most recently, the council excitedly bent over backwards to invite John Lewis into the old Debenhams building, even going so far as to redirect buses and other traffic from the High Street in order that John Lewis may have a more pleasing frontage. The shop opened to a media fanfare and furore, which would have bewildered visitors from any other city. Such measures are indicative of how desperate Exeter is to attract big-name stores and companies – a desperation which would probably not exist had previous measures to boost the local economy been as successful as hoped.

A Snowball Effect

However, while benefits at a grassroots level may have yet to be seen, the slow progression of advancements, developments, and big name companies slowly migrating to Exeter may indicate a snowball effect, which will eventually lift Exeter from obscurity and trickle benefits down to the local people. The progression can be traced in a slow arc from the relocation of the MET Office, which arguably put Exeter on the map as a viable location for big business. The Office drew other big companies into its remit – EDF, for example, which certainly does provide an economic boon through the provision of hundreds of jobs. There are few young Exeter residents who do not have several friends currently employed at EDF’s Exeter offices. The redevelopment of Princesshay, while not providing the immediate economic benefits residents may have hoped for, did render Exeter a more viable prospect for retail giants like John Lewis – who like to be situated within a salubrious commercial environment. The presence of such big name stores in turn makes other big retailers sit up and take interest – which brings us to Exeter’s IKEA.

Mixed Benefits

The nearest IKEAs to the people of the South West Peninsula are to be found in Bristol or Cardiff. This makes a journey of potentially hundreds of miles for flatpack fans from Devon and Cornwall. The provision of a store in Exeter would certainly be very exciting from a retail and meatball-consumption point of view, and it cannot be denied that it would come with a variety of new jobs. Whether these jobs are enough on their own to plug the chasm of unemployment which threatens to swallow the South West is dubious – but IKEA will potentially attract other employers to the region, thus ensuring that the situation will gradually improve. This will have a knock-on effect on things like house prices and so on – which may not be good news for some. Due largely to the effect of rich holidaymakers from upcountry buying second homes and thus inflating prices without actually contributing much to the local economy, Devon and Cornwall have some of the least affordable homes in the country. This forces many local people either out of the region or into sub-par accommodation shared with friends or family, while wealthy Londoners live in the cream of the county for one out of twelve months a year. However, there is of course the chance that projected economic benefit to the city will see locals more able to afford the South West’s high house prices. There are also plans for 220 new homes, approved within the same development which will include IKEA, many of which will hopefully enable first time buyers to get a foot upon the property ladder. The government’s Help to Buy scheme coupled with the recovering economy and subsequent increase in mortgage options could work very much in favour of Exeter here – if the end result does indeed include affordable housing for local people rather than upmarket residences aimed at those already furnished with their own homes.

Progress - But Not As We've Been Told

All in all, it is doubtful that the IKEA will have quite the immediate and stupendous effect which excited council rhetoric may have led the people of Exeter to believe. However, like Princesshay, the MET Office, and John Lewis, it must be seen as a portion of a cumulative advance which will gradually improve Exeter’s economy and increase prospects for local people. Given the other exciting developments within the city – such as the redevelopment of the Guildhall Shopping Centre and Exeter’s already thriving but steadily growing culture of street entertainment and vending, it is to be hoped that IKEA will prove another milestone on Exeter’s road to economic and cultural recovery.