ALMHULT, SWEDEN: Ikea has selected Grayling Sweden as its first retained corporate PR firm, following an intensive search that featured as many as 15 agencies.

The agency has been charged with overseeing corporate branding for its retail unit in Sweden, including such areas as employer branding and domestic expansion.

It is understood that the one-year brief is worth approximately $100,000. An Ikea press officer confirmed that the furniture giant had “decided to work with a Swedish PR agency for the Swedish market,” but declined to provide any further details.

The group works with agencies across other parts of its organisation, most notably Prime Group. Ikea is the world’s largest furniture retailer, banking global revenues of 23.5m euros in 2010. The company is privately-held, and largely controlled by Dutch company INGKA Holding.