BOSTIN NEWS / IKEA Birmingham / 03 2018 by ikeabirmingham

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

IKEA BIRMINGHAM MARCH 2018

BOSTIN NEWS IN LOVING MEMORY OF INGVAR KAMPRAD

IDE INS S THI .. UE. ISS

CO-WORKER OF THE MONTH

HEALTH & WELLBEING SWITCH & SAVE: RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY IKEA BIRMINGHAM’S ENTRANCE & EXIT PROJECT FY18 EQUALITY WORKS BETTER

PICK ME UP!

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

Hej!

IDE S N I S THI .. UE. ISS

STORE MESSAGE + Key things to look out for this month!

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

CO-WORKER OF THE MONTH

HEALTH & WELLBEING AT IKEA BIRMINGHAM

BENEFIT OF THE MONTH Do you know your benefits?

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY How we give back to the local area PLUS an update from our local store charity, Promise Dreams.

IKEA BIRMINGHAM’S ENTRANCE & EXIT PROJECT FY18

EQUALITY WORKS BETTER An introduction to International Women’s Day 2018 and ‘Empowering Women Through Craft’.

SWITCH AND SAVE Our renewable electricity campaign!

BIRTHDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES

WELCOME TO THE TEAM! Introducing our new starters for March...

OMEDELBAR Vitality Range FY18

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

IN LOVING MEMORY OF

INGVAR KAMPRAD 1926 - 2018

“Ingvar was one of the greatest entrepreneurs the world has ever seen. He kept his ear to the ground until his very last days, ensuring that everyone stayed true to the unique IKEA concept and values that have made it so successful. Nothing was more important to him than ensuring the continued strength of the groups of companies he founded and thus securing the jobs of hundreds of thousands co-workers around the world – in addition to making quality home furnishing affordable to as many people as possible. Ingvar energized us all through his dream and vision to create a better everyday life for the many people.” Älmhult, January 28, 2018 Peter, Jonas and Mathias Kamprad

To send your condolences or share your thoughts with colleagues all over the world visit www.goo.gl/vFvS1f

STORE MESSAGE FROM AMY Hello to all, since I wrote my last article for the Bostin news back in November 2017 there are so many things we should be proud of and of course we have things we can still improve, in IKEA we know that many things still remain to be done. We have recruited around 50 new co-workers into our business so first of all I would like to say a big warm welcome to the IKEA family. Our biggest asset as a business is our People so it is important that we continue to invest in our people in order for our business to grow each and every day. Business Update Tertial 1: We had a strong Tertial 1 (Sept – Dec), we grew in all channels: In store sales, shop online, OCP, click and collect and our in store services. Our costs remained under control and our bottom line (profit) was set to deliver at what we had planned. Tertial 2: From the beginning of January we have had a tougher start to the new year which is a similar picture across the UK stores, sales have not delivered where we had forecasted which has impacted on the level of profit we have banked, everything is calculated as a % to sales so when we don’t take the sales it puts pressure on all areas of the ‘Bonus Calculation’. One area

of the business we have felt some challenge is when we sell products via distribution such as Kitchens, we don’t receive the money until it is delivered to the customers home (delivered sales), across the country all stores have not been seeing the delivered sales being credited back.. The good news is that this looks to have been rectified for the country and in February we are seeing the credits come through. As always it is key that we take care of our customers in a great way and every sale counts. You may have heard the term ‘Gross Margin’ talked about, articles with a higher gross margin means that we make more profit the more we sell, the more we sell the more resources we have to invest back into the store either having more co-workers or rebuilding areas of the store, so selling the right products also has a big impact on the overall result of the store. But we must always remember we are a volume organisation so sales steering with Turnover, Profit and Volume are key to our success. Bonus Update: With a tough January in terms of sales and the impact of the delivered sales not landing in the January profit and loss report the figures for the bonus have dropped now to 28% from the 100% which is where we were at the end of

November. Whilst we expect so see a positive movement in February we are still behind our stores sales goal by 2.6% YTD so we have some way to go to get back on track to the 130% which we are aiming for as a store, if any store can do it, WE CAN! Please speak to your line manager to understand in more detail how you can contribute to boosting our sales and profitability. You are important and you can certainly make a difference. We know we have an amazing team in 142 and the OCP but we really need to focus and continue taking care of our customers in order to reach our goals. Business Plan focus areas FY18 Tertial 2 Growth: Markethall will remain a focus for us (Home Furnishing Accessories) by the time this article is published we will have rebuilt our Home Decoration shop – which supports more inspiration supporting our sales growth and profitability! It looks beautiful, please go and be curious if you have not seen it yet! Well done to all involved in the rebuild, be proud! We will also rebuild parts of bedrooms to take care of a new range coming in PLATSA, adding to a wider range which is more affordable to our customers with a thinner wallet, it was also again support new growth. Brilliant basics supports everyday growth so clean, tidy, priced and full with great service will continue to be on the agenda in all areas including IKEA Food. The biggest driver to growth is securing a seamless experience for our customers and every one of our 530+ strong team can impact this – You are important in

creating a meaningful experience for our customers and based on our feedback there are many examples to share where YOU make a difference! Customer Experience: Biggest focus is now on planning the new Entrance and Exit Project, we will be rebuilding and refreshing the following areas before the end of August. Customer entrance, Smalland entrance, Bistro, Swedish Food Market, Checkouts, Customer Relations, introducing changing places, click and return plus much more. We welcome back Dawn Lloyd who is the project Manager. Dawn has already started connecting with all areas involved to gain input and share what’s happening. This is a £400k investment for the store (this does not impact the Bonus as it is centrally funded). The ambition is to transform the area and really put the customers’ needs first as shopping behaviours are changing rapidly. Now for example with shop online customers who may have not have visited the store before may enter returns first, what first impression and welcome do they have today? How can we improve this and make it easy and convenient plus how we improve the co-worker experience in these areas, as you are important! Co-worker Engagement and Leadership: A big focus in this area is around employment standards, ensuring we all have a minimum of 4 weeks rotas in place, holiday planning, fair and consistent approach to weekend working and ensuring we have a minimum of 11 hours between shifts. We know from Voice that we need to develop the approach with development talks

and involve the many in decisions made. Hopefully you will have had some quality time in your teams to discuss the Voice result for the store and your department if you haven’t then please raise your voice as this was a commitment from each leader back in week 1. Whilst we are constantly looking to improve the customer experience we will always focus at the same time on the co-worker environment and keep evolving. Liam Hill has just started as our new Internal Communications Specialist, we know today we have opportunities with communication which Liam has lots of energy to help us improve. Whilst the trading pattern is slightly tougher than forecasted we have a strong plan, some key focus areas to support our growth ambitions but the key is taking time together, have a simplistic approach, lets test and try new ways if you feel it will add value. We will make some mistakes and take the learnings which is part of how we do things in IKEA. Thank you for your hard work since the start of the new year, we have achieved many things together and we have many more to concur together! Birmingham has the privilege to host the UK & IE annual People Event which will take place on the 5th & 6th March. We will have Gillian (UK & IE Country Mgr) Jeanette Soderberg (Region Mgr for Europe) together with the UK Management team plus 68 participants over the two days. The 5th March we will be spending time on the shop floor so we will meet many of you during the course of the day, a full agenda will be communicated to you from your line managers. On the 6th March as we have 80 people to serve lunch to, so we ask for your support in using the customer restaurant

this day for lunch breaks (12-2) so we can smoothly cater for the additional visitors. Breakfast and evening meals will remain as usual. We will have a separate area of the customer restaurant reserved for you plus you will receive a free meal voucher. On a final note, we received the news at the end of January that our founder Ingvar had sadly passed away at the age of 91 after a short illness. He leaves behind such a strong legacy and a clear and meaningful vision. We as a team have a responsibility to continue his legacy ‘to create a better everyday life for many’ in being guided by our values and most importantly taking care of each other and our customers. Here’s to a glorious future! Take care, Amy

KEY THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR THIS MONTH... 5th & 6th March UK & IE PEOPLE EVENT We are delighted to announce that IKEA Birmingham has been selected to host the UK & IE People Event 2018 on 5th & 6th March. This is a huge honour & privilege for the store to host such a large national event! Jeanette Soderburg, (Regional Manager for Europe) and Gillian Drakeford (UK & IE Country Manager) will be here for the event amongst many other senior leaders! We could have up to 80 visitors - including around 50 delegates!

top condition for the event! The following areas will be getting a refresh: • The Hub • The Training Room • New General Office We’ll also be looking at all Internal Communications around the store, particularly the staff corridors - downstairs by the clocking in machine and upstairs by the staff restaurant. If you have any ideas for these areas please write them on the large stickers that can be found on the walls in these areas or drop an email to liam.hill1@ikea.com.

Please speak to your manager or an SSG member if you’d like to get involved - this is where we come together to make this an outstanding day to be proud of! REFURBISHMENTS To get ready for the UK & IE People Event you’ll start to see a lot of changed to co-worker areas around store - as well as on departments. We want to make sure we’re looking in tip9

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

SUN

MON

TUE

WED

FRI

SAT

INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY

UK & IE PEOPLE EVENT

THUR

MOTHER’S DAY

PAY DAY

HOME FURNISHING FESTIVAL GOOD FRIDAY

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

CO-WORKER OF THE MONTH! an m is IKEA “Ada ation to ement. r t inspi is depar valuet h s d o n a he m orker. t s i w He m n codrive ever Ada ns e n Whe ns Childr he d reple rfect an back e p s e s m it’ ys co r to alwa handove rything a ve for ure e s e k ma !” is OK

ADAM RAVAT LOGISTICS

“Adam is very humble and always goes above and beyond his responsibilities, always there to help everybody and every function when approached. If IKEA had a role-model, Adam would be it.”

Also, congratulations to all the nominees!

Want to nominate someone for co-worker of the month? Simply fill out a form in HR and drop it in the box provided!

Guire Kassim - IFS Gordon Taylor - BISTRO Lorna Edwards - CS Paul Clarke - Carpenter Kirsty Darrell - Textiles

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

HEALTH & WELLBEING AT IKEA BIRMINGHAM DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

LIFE ASSURANCE WITH IKEA!

DID YOU ? W KNO

IKEA helps you make provision for your beneficiaries in the event of your death whilst in employment at IKEA. From day one of your employment with IKEA you are covered by life assurance – worth 3 times your contractual base salary. This means in the unfortunate event of your death whilst still working with us, IKEA has arranged to pay life assurance to your beneficaries or estate! ALL co-workers should have completed a beneficiary form by 1st March 2018, but if you haven’t, don’t worry... Find a form in HR or speak to one of your HR co-workers for more info on the scheme.

EVENTS AND GROUPS

#THE SONS SLIMP

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WANT TO KNOW MORE? VISIT US IN HR ANYTIME 13

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

FEELING STRESSED? Stress can affect us all but don’t worry, it’s manageable and help is always available! We all get stressed from time to time... There’s lots we all tackle in our everyday lives and stress is caused by many different things and is felt in many different ways, including: • • • • • • • • •

Headaches Muscle Tension Forgetfulness Irritability Crying Difficulty Sleeping Changes in Eating Breathing Problems Feeling Low

...and stress is not always a bad thing, but the way we handle it can be.

w to Video - Ho Your s s e tr Make S : d Frien NknTz3 www.goo.gl/ y Why not tr ? n o ti ia medit ss le rm o .f w ww om meditation.c

So how can stress be helped? • Try to take a step back from the situation • If it’s a work related problem, arrange to sit down with your manager. Can you set out a plan to tackle the problem in a comfortable amount of time? • If it’s family related, perhaps arrange some time off? If you ever need someone to talk to, please find one of us... • • • • • • • • • •

Tracey Bumford, HR Kerry Danks, Sales Pooja Phandey, HR Gordon Millard, Comm-In Andrew Inston, Logs Eleanor Hayes, Bedrooms Sharon Powell, Textiles Dawn Wyse, Comm-In Caroline Smith, Logs Julie Finch, Risk

Or... Call the Employee Assist Helpine: 0800 282 193

iBENEFITS

DO YOU KNOW YOUR BENEFITS? What is payroll giving? IKEA offers all co-workers the opportunity to donate to a charity of your choice without paying tax, straight from your pay. It provides the regular income so important to charities, and of course it’s tax efficient. Every £5 you commit to your favourite cause will cost you just £4. The scheme is completely voluntary and confidential to you and of course the choice of charity is entirely yours. How it works: By completing a simple donation form (found here: www.goo. gl/aqsz2C), you can choose to support any charity of your choice, directly from your pay. Because the donation is taken from your gross pay, every pound you give will only cost you 80p, or only 60p if you are a higher rate tax payer. Providing you are paid through PAYE, donations can be made to any national/local charity or recognised good cause such as places of worship, schools and scout groups. You can nominate more than one charity to benefit from your donations - and you

BENEFIT OF THE MONTH...

PAYROLL GIVING can easily change the amount or nominated charities at any time. For more information: Please ring the Payroll Giving in Action helpline if you need any assistance or guidance. This may include help with completing the donation form, details of your charitable cause, making multiple donations, calculating financial contributions etc. 01271 326131 To discover more co-worker benefits, plus view your pay, career opportunites within IKEA and much more simply visit www.ico-worker. ikea.com from your store computer or in the comfort of your own home!

GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY All year round we’re always finding ways of giving back to the local area. This is what’s happened so far this year...

FABLER BJORN BEARS GO TO A GOOD CAUSE! During the Christmas period, each child that visited Santa’s Grotto in store were given a free toy. When Santa left for the year, we were left with 96 FABLER BJÖRN bears! Instead of sending these to Recovery, we decided to donate these instead. Jade from Marketing reached out to Birmingham Children’s hospital to see if they would be interested in the donation. On 26th January, Jade and Kay took the bears to the hospital to be handed out to children who have to spend their birthday’s there in hopes that this would brighten up their day.

TEXTILE DONATIONS TO CITY OF WOLVERHAMPTON COLLEGE This month, three students with learning disabilities from the City of Wolverhampton College contacted our store asking for donations to create decorative bunting and brightly coloured storage tins to later sell on a stall (20th March 2018) to raise money for Water Aid. The students involved in the craft project are part of the Futures programme for young people with special educational needs & disabilities which aims to enhance their life and employability skills and develop their abilities to help them move towards living independently.

350 GINGER BREAD HOUSES DONATED TO A LOCAL SPECIAl NEEDS SCHOOL

Recovery provided us with 2 trolleys worth of textiles donations including duvet covers, pillow cases and sheets, sofa throws and net which was donated to the college on 2nd February!

Thank you to Noleen from Bistro for donating the gingerbread houses and people leftover in SFM to save them from going to waste - theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been donated to a local special needs school to create a gingerbread village! 17

COMMUNITY

MEET VINNIE An update from Ali Breakwell at Promise Dreams on how IKEA Birmingham is making dreams come true.

VINNIE IS JUST 2 YEARS OLD BUT LIVES WITH A DEGENERATIVE CONDITION CALLED SPINAL MUSCULAR ATROPHY... ...this comes in varying degrees of severity but tragically Vinnie has Type 1 which means his body has already started to shut down vital muscle abilities. At present he cannot move, hold his head unaided or swallow. Over the next few months Vinnieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s muscles will continue to deteriorate until eventually he is unable to breathe and his heart stops beating. His parents are extremely aware that they have limited time left with their amazing little boy so 18

they wanted to book a holiday to spend precious time together while they still can. They had approached other dream granting charities for help funding the perfect trip that they knew their brave little boy would love but many of them were unable to help as Vinnie is too young to meet their criteria. Luckily, as Promise Dreams help children right from birth up to 18, they were able to help. We would like to thank everyone in store, over the last 4 months of AMAZING fundraising, we were able to make Vinnie and his parentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; wishes finally come true...

COMMUNITY

Thanks to your amazing fundraising we have been able to book a very special themed room at Disneyland Paris for Vinnie and his parents complete with multi-coloured lighting, colourful walls filled with images and cuddly toys of all of the famous Disney characters! When we told Vinnie’s parents that we could help they were over the moon. They are now looking forward to having a wonderful holiday together creating precious memories with their little boy that they can treasure forever no matter what the future holds. Vinnie and his family will be going on their holiday in June so stay tuned for a update soon on how it goes!

K WAL FOR MS! A E DR

THANK YOU!

K! C A T

THANK YOU! AFTER FOUR INCREDIBLE MONTHS OF FUNDRAISING WE HAVE RAISED OVER £1686 FOR PROMISE DREAMS!

JOIN US FOR A 10 MILE SPONSORED WALK AND HELP MAKE DREAMS COME TRUE FOR TERMINALLY ILL CHILDREN. SUNDAY 1ST JULY / 11AM HIMLEY CRICKET CLUB TO WOLVERHAMPTON RACECOURSE REGISTER FOR FREE AT WALKFORDREAMS.CO.UK/REGISTER

IKEA BIRMINGHAM’S ENTRANCE & EXIT PROJECT FY18

WEEK 8 TO WEEK 2 9

Here at IKEA Birmingham we’re completely redesigning and refurbishing our entrance and exit areas - that includes Main Entrance, Bistro, Swedish Food Market, Checkous and Customer Services - giving our customers a fresh, new and exciting experience when visiting their local IKEA!

WHAT’S THE PLAN? The Store Entrance This is the area that will show IKEA at it’s very best - professional but relaxed Swedish feeling and demonstrating home furnishing expertise. Our customers will be greeted by a friendly, knowledgable concierge in a spacious and bright open area, redesigned with materials and innovative design that softens the bustling area of activity. This will also include directions for shortcuts that allow the customer to shop how, when and where they want.

All photos are inspiration from Croydon’s Entrance & Exit Project

Customer Services This will become an area of the store that customers can do numerous tasks - not just return their goods! Customers here are excited to recieve their furniture, arrange delivery and come to get advice. This might be the only part of our store a customer will see if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve only ever experienced IKEA online so needs to be light & comfortable and inspiring!

Transition Area

We need to create an area connected to the rest of the store, to get ready for Click & Collect in the future!

This will be the area that connects the entire Entrance/Exit parts of our store - this is where Checkouts, Bistro and the Swedish Food Market are. A fluid, consistent Scandinavian feel will be evident throughout - connecting the whole area and creating a natural flow. We need to create interest & inspiration to make customers want to come back soon. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an enjoyable end to a great shopping experience!

Dawn Lloyd Entrance & Exit Project Leader IKEA Birmingham

ENTRANCE & EXIT PROJECT

New Swedish Food Market & Bistro

Our Bistro will also be refreshed to link with SFM and the surrounding area. The main focus of this will be to deliver a faster service to customers and calm the environment and current queueing situation. Giving customers a better experience!

The new SFM will raise the quality perception, creating a great atmosphere with attractive, well communicated key offers. This area is unique to IKEA, a real speciality shop carrying great value for money products reflecting our Swedish heritage and traditions. A true taste of Sweden and a chance to take home what customers experienced in the Restaurant & Bistro

SO WHAT’S NEXT?

HAVE YOUR SAY! We want to ensure that all co-workers currently working in this area have the tools & resources to do their jobs without any barriers or frustrations they may already have. If you have any ideas or opinions you want to share, please get in touch! Either speak to Dawn Lloyd in store or via email (dawn.lloyd@ikea.com) or speak to one of your committee members. 22

We have instructed the construction team to quote for ‘the dream’ renovation - however, we know this will cost a lot of money. Our CommIn partners (Emma and Gail) will review possible design ideas and opportunites and once plans are confirmed, we’re good to go!

EOUALITY WORKS BETTER On March 8th 2018, IKEA Group celebrates International Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Day, honouring the effort to build a more inclusive and equal world. As a humanistic company we believe that gender equality is good for our co-workers and our customers. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why we treat all co-workers fairly as we work together to close the gender gap and other inequalities. When people have the same opportunities to grow, regardless of gender or background, everyone wins. Equality just works better. 23

I N T E R N AT I O N A L W O M E N ’ S D AY

IKEA BIRMINGHAM CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 8TH MARCH 2018! Read our stories... EQUALITY WORKS BETTER–IN THE U.S. TOO “It’s an investment that comes with a huge return in the form of happier and healthier co-workers.” U.S. law does not require any paid parental leave. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible to offer this benefit. IKEA Group strongly believes that time spent with family and friends is important for a healthy work-life balance and a happy and productive workforce. On January 1, 2017, these words were put into action by IKEA Retail U.S. Since that day, IKEA Retail U.S. has offered a new parental leave policy for co-workers: four months for full-time coworkers and three months for part-time co-workers. And the policy covers families in the

widest sense of the word—it includes salaried co-workers, mothers and fathers, adoptive and foster parents alike. This new policy was introduced to ensure that co-workers have the opportunity to connect as a family and spend more time together when welcoming a child. What could be more important? It’s an investment that comes with a huge return in the form of happier and healthier co-workers. Equal pay drives equality Being able to spend more time with your family, regardless of your gender, is a strong driver for equality. But so is money. IKEA Retail U.S. philosophy on pay is that it must be fair, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, nationality or any other dimension of diversity. Therefore, a systematic plan of analysing and addressing pay gaps has been introduced, delivering facts and numbers to close those gaps. IKEA Retail U.S. also made a public commitment to pay equity by signing the White House Equal Pay Pledge, and will continue to work towards equality.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L W O M E N ’ S D AY

EQUALITY WORKS BETTER—IN JAPAN TOO “A total of 50% female managers compared to the Japanese average of 12.7%.” The majority of part-time co-workers in Japan are women. And the hourly pay for parttime co-workers is lower than the full-time hourly rate. The consequence for Japanese women is less money, less independence and fewer career opportunities. Because we know that equality works better, changes had to be made. IKEA Retail Japan now provides equal pay for

equal work, regardless of whether it’s a part-time or a full-time job. There is even the possibility to work part-time in a managerial role, which gives working parents the opportunity to grow with IKEA Retail Japan. IKEA Retail Japan has also increased its working hours for part-time co-workers so that they are now covered by the same social security benefits as full-time coworkers. The result: a total of 50% female managers compared to the Japanese average of 12.7%.

GENDER SPLIT ACCROSS UK IKEA IS 52.5% FEMALE AND 47.5% MALE WITH 49% OF LEADERS AT IKEA GROUP WORLWIDE BEING FEMALE! This is an incredible percentage and we should be very proud of ourselves as a company who stand by their values and create equality between all of our co-workers, no matter their gender identity or other differences.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L W O M E N â&#x20AC;&#x2122; S D AY

EMPOWERING WOMEN THROUGH CRAFT

INNEHĂ&#x2026;LLSRIK A collection that brings Scandinavian design and traditional Indian Handicraft techniques together. This collection is co-created with artisan social enterprises in India, which are in the business of making everyday life better for women and their rural communities.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L W O M E N ’ S D AY

By working with Social Entrepreneurs, IKEA has created jobs for many talented women in parts of the world where it’s needed most. The initiative empowers women to make a better everyday for themselves and their communities. Creating not only jobs, but selfconfidence, pride, positivity and change. The INNHALLÅLLSKRIK collection is the 7th limited collection co-created with skilled femail artisans in India. It’s the perfect collection to highlight what IKEA is doing for women and equality all over the world so let’s celebrate this, and these women, this International Women’s Day! On 8th March, we will also be releasing tutorials made together with the women who helped make INNHALLÅLLSKRIK to teach you how to learn handcrafts yourself! Keep an eye out around the staff areas in store for more about International Women’s Day (8th March)...

SAVE THE DATE!

SWITCH AND SAVE: OUR RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY CAMPAIGN WITH THE BIG CLEAN SWITCH AT IKEA, WE CARE ABOUT THE IMPACT WE HAVE ON PEOPLE AND THE PLANET. THAT’S WHY WE’VE PARTNERED WITH THE BIG CLEAN SWITCH, MAKING IT EASY FOR YOU TO SWITCH TO GREAT VALUE RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY. MAKE THE SWITCH AND YOU COULD SAVE OVER £300 A YEAR*! As part of our vision ‘to create a better everyday life for the many people,’ we want to help people live a more sustainable life at home. That’s why we have partnered with the Big Clean Switch to help you switch to a great value, renewable electricity provider. The Big Clean Switch campaign is in addition to our existing SOLSTRÅLE range (home solar and battery storage), helping to make renewable electricity accessible for everyone. The Big Clean Switch is a “profit with purpose” organisation that encourages people to move away from fossil fuels and switch to a renewable electricity provider, by making the process of switching simple, easy and free. By doing so, you could save over £300 a year* on your household bills whilst having a positive impact on the planet. 28

Electricity that comes from renewable sources is kinder to the environment compared to traditional fossil fuels that can cause air pollution and contribute to climate change (oil, gas etc). Different types of renewable energy sources include: Wind power, solar power, hydro power, bioenergy, tidal and wave power. Our partnership with the Big Clean Switch means we have an exclusive IKEA tariff which launches on Tuesday 6th March 2018. You will have the opportunity to pre-register for the exclusive tariff between Tuesday 20th February and Monday 5th March via this link: bigcleanswitch.org/ikeacoworker.

Switch and save. Our brightest idea yet! 100% renewable electricity. Co-workers can switch to an exclusive IKEA tariff and save money. www.bigcleanswitch.org/ikea-co-worker

Why not tell your friends and family too, they can sign up here: ikea.co.uk/switchandsave Also, for every switch we will receive a commission payment which will support local community initiatives. At the end of the campaign we will split the fund and the amount each individual unit receives will be dependent on how many switches you generate! The money is to be used specifically for local community initiatives in your area. We would love you all to get involved â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the more people that pre-register their interest, the better the tariff! The tariff is live for three weeks and ends on Monday 26th March.

For more information and FAQs please visit iCoworker. *Prices sourced from EnergyHelpline and correct as of 6 February 2018. Big Six price reflects an average usage dual fuel household on a Big Six Standard Variable Tariff paying by monthly direct debit with a single rate meter, with prices averaged across all regions of England, Scotland and Wales. The renewable tariff price reflects the cheapest tariff supplying 100% renewable electricity available through the Big Clean Switch website, paying by monthly direct debit with a single rate meter and averaged across all regions of England, Scotland and Wales. Average usage as defined by Ofgem is 12,000 kWh pa of gas and 3,100 kWh pa of electricity. 29

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 1st Cassie Smith / 2nd Ibraar Saleem, Paul Blair, Tracey Bumford / 3rd Kelly Freeman, Lucy Ann Page / 4th Rebecca Hayward, Jacob Gunter / 5th Yvonne Crawford, Liam Blundell, Michelle Jones, Paul Clarke, Shamaila Begum,

Akaash Shemar / 9th Michelle Jones / 10th Jack Badger, Luke Yeomans / 11th Lauren Jarvis, Stacey Cooper, Lorna Jones, Mathew Purewal / 12th Jodie Hawkins / 13th Chloe Maniford / 14th Jessica Mistry, Pooja Phandey, Nicholas Ridley, Jessie Mahal

/ 16th Robert Morgan, Ali Sidat / 18th Cassandra Brown / 20th Andrea Richards / 23rd Darryl Gayle, Lisa Whorton / 24th Charles Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Mara / 25th Emma Houlston / 27th Charlene Taylor / 28th Wayne Cooper / 31st Louise Bethell

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! 1 Year: Crystal Taylor, Alicja Lemanczyk, Jessica Edwards, Bradley Drouet, Blake Slater, Robert Morgan, Jack Rosser, Johnathon Westwood / 2 Years: Alison Hadley, Holly Green, Dominic Cox, Joanne Ordidge, Louise Fitzgerald, Jade Lacey, Aaron Wills, Ashleigh Louise Owens, Liam Smith, Grant Harper, Lucy

Warren, Karen Yates, Stuart Richards, Charlotte Aspland, Darryl Gayle, Danielle Stephens, Alex Darknell, Thomas Nutting / 3 Years: Lucy Jordan, Deborah Hill, Millie Bumford, Mohammed Haseeb Hasaan, Courtney Hockley, Jade Hill / 6 Years: Rebecca Johnson / 7 Years: Adam Ravat, Richard Rudge / 10 Years: Zaeed Akhtar,

Stephen Strover, Samantha Fieldhouse / 11 Years: Nathan Holland, Palbinder Kaur, Harshaben Patel / 12 Years: Nadeem Yousaf / 15 Years: Daniel Green / 17 Years: Amy Logan / 18 Years: Michelle Rowly / 19 Years: Lisa Edwards / 20 Years: Josephine Townsend, Emma BranniganLawson

H E A LT H & W E L L B E I N G

WELCOME TO TEAM IKEA BIRMINGHAM! Mia IFS

Theresa IFS

Georgia IFS

Victoria IFS

Jasbinder Full Serve

Ethan Full Serve

Maksim Replen

Jason Recovery

Katarina Recovery

Ryan Self Serve

Ben Self Serve

Sheryl Kitchens

Lesley Kitchens

Cadie Kitchens

Usmaan Kitchens

Georgia Kitchens

Mariya Kitchens

Catherine Kitchens

Eesa Childrens

Kayleigh Activities

Viren Bedrooms

Jaskaran Bedrooms

Renesha Workspaces

Magdalena Living Rooms

Uwais Living Rooms

Sophie IFS

Bethany IFS

OMEDELBAR A bold, exciting, limited-edition collection in collaboration with fashion activist Bea Akerlund. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a collection that perhaps shouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work... but somehow, it just does. Keep an eye out for the full range coming this March.

Tack för att du läser! (That’s “Thank you for reading!” in Swedish)

GOT SOMETHING TO SHARE? Have something you want featured in this magazine or want to communicate a message/event/idea to the entire store? It’s as easy as 1-2-3!

Simply drop me an email at liam.hill1@ikea.com explaining what you’d like included or pop into the General Office for a chat! I’d love to hear from you.