FURNITURE and home giant Ikea has partnered with a Bournemouth-based energy switching service to encourage households to go green.

The Swedish-headquartered conglomerate has joined with Big Clean Switch to encourage people to change power providers.

Ikea will offer the chance for households to switch to a low-cost tariff from a choice of green suppliers.

Homes that do so through the Ikea UK website will receive a £35 credit.

Ikea says energy bills have soared while many more people have been working from home, with estimates putting the cost to households at up to £45 a month.

Greg Lucas, sustainability manager at Ikea UK, said: “Millions of homes across the UK are already benefitting from Ikea products and services that help to reduce waste, energy and water, as well as to save money, which is why we’re so pleased to be able to partner with Big Clean Switch and help our customers switch to green energy suppliers too.

“With everything we do we hope to enable and inspire people take small, affordable and simple steps towards living more sustainably,” he added.

Jon Fletcher, chief executive of Big Clean Switch, headquartered in Bournemouth’s Commercial Road, said: “Too many UK households are put off switching supplier because they think it will be too much trouble or they don’t trust the energy market and as a result, they’re often paying hundreds of pounds more than they should be.

“We’re working with Ikea to provide a different kind of switching service that provides their customers with the support and reassurance they need to make the switch to greener, more affordable energy.”

The deal is one of several initiatives which Ikea's owner Ingka Group says are aimed at making sustainable living more accessible and affordable.

In April, it announced an investment of an extra four billion euros to support its transition to using 100 per cent renewable energy across its value chain by 2030. All its stores have LED lighting and 13 have solar panels, while six stores in the UK do not rely on fossil fuels.