IKEA’s store in Southampton has helped the company become the UK’s leading home furnishing retailer.

The Swedish company, which opened their store in West Quay Road in February 2009, yesterday said it was now the country’s number one furniture shop.

It said like-for-like sales in the UK and Ireland, where it has 19 stores, had risen by one per cent to £1.2 billion during the 12 months to the end of August.

The growth bucked the trend for the home furnishings sector, with the market shrinking by 7.4 per cent during 2009.

As a result, the rise was enough to give Ikea a six per cent market share, making it for the first time the UK's most popular supplier of everything for the home from beds and tables to curtains and rugs, according to figures compiled by Verdict Consulting.

Growth in kitchen sales was particularly strong, rising by 11 per cent on a like-for-like basis. Other strong areas included sales of storage goods, which were also up 11 per cent, while sales of dining room furniture rose by nine per cent and children’s products were up four per cent.

Ikea said customers had become more conscious of price doing the year, leading to it cutting prices on several lines.

In a bid to continue achieving sales growth, it cut prices by 5 per cent across its entire range in September.

Martin Hansson, IKEA UK and Ireland’s country manager, said: “It has been another challenging year for us but despite the overall home furnishings market being in decline, we have delivered a small growth.

“By focusing on two key areas – affordability and improved service – I am convinced we will continue to see stable, if not increased visitation to our Ikea stores over the coming period. I believe we will achieve growth by continuing to lower our prices.”

This is only the second time that Ikea has published sales figures for the UK and Ireland. It broke with its previous secrecy at the beginning of October by publishing profit figures for the whole group. It said it had seen group-wide sales growth of 1.4 per cent to £18.9 billion during the year to the end of August, with its net profit increasing by 11.3 per cent to £2.2 billion.

The Ikea Group operates 280 stores in 26 countries, with a further 34 stores run by franchises in 16 countries and territories.