A Danish furniture retailer is vowing to undercut Ikea as it launches a £50 million expansion in the UK this week.

Jysk, founded by Lars Larsen, the Danish billionaire, will open two 10,000 square foot stores in Lincoln and Mansfield on Friday, selling products for the bathroom, bedroom and living room with sofa beds from £30.

The company believes that it could open up to 500 stores in this country over the next two decades.

Jan Bogh, the managing director, said: “We are not worried about the current state of the economy. These things go in waves.”

An increasing number of continental players are trying their luck in the UK, given the size of the market. Lanidor and Tom Tailor, the Portuguese and German clothing chains, opened their first UK stores last month in the Victoria Square shopping centre in Belfast. Ilva, the second-biggest Danish furniture chain, launched in the UK two years ago as an upmarket version of Ikea but has since struggled to carve out a niche.

Steve Stenhouse, Jysk UK’s manager, said that he was confident his group’s focus on price would ensure that it won over shoppers.

He said: “People always need to replace furnishings and furniture and, if times are particularly hard, they want to shop around for the best price. We will be surprised and disappointed if we are not the best priced in the market place.”

Jysk was founded by Mr Larsen in 1979 and now has 1,350 stores in 31 countries, generating £1.4 billion of sales.

Mr Larsen, 59, is an icon in Denmark where he once sent his autobiography to every house after being disappointed by initial sales. He still picks product lines while his wife, Kris, works part-time as a shop floor saleswoman in one of the Jysk stores.

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