More than 1,000km north of Stockholm, close to the Arctic Circle and on the border with Finland, the remote Swedish town of Haparanda lies a stone’s throw from the Finnish town of Tornio, to which it is connected by a bridge across the Torne river.

Haparanda’s declining industrial fortunes were reversed in 1996 when Ikea, the Swedish company, set up its most northerly flatpack furniture store to attract Finns, Norwegians and even Russians.