MARTIN TOOGOOD, the executive chairman of Ilva, is repeatedly stroking a £600 brown leather sofa.

“Feel it. This is the most expensive leather you can buy,” said Toogood, who is now almost lying on the sofa as he extols its quality.

Like a fashion retailer on the shop floor, Toogood constantly touches and strokes his products as we tour Ilva’s flagship store in Malmo, Sweden.

Furniture retailing is not often like this — the chairs, tables and sofas are lit by theatrical lighting and natural light that pours in from giant circular skylights. The floor is stylish wood and stone. This is one retail fit-out that was not done on the cheap.

British consumers will soon get a chance to judge the quality of Toogood’s sofas, tables, chairs and stores for themselves. In May Ilva — a Danish retailer — will open its first British store in Thurrock, Essex. Two more will follow later this year in Manchester and Gateshead, and Ilva has just signed the paperwork on a fourth, in Reading. Within 10 years Toogood hopes to have 20 stores in Britain.

Toogood, a former chief executive of Habitat and one of Britain’s most experienced retailers, wants to revolutionise the £12 billion furniture market with an eclectic mix of stylish furniture.

“The British consumer has outgrown the furniture market. Nobody fills the gap when you outgrow Ikea,” said Toogood in his first interview since taking control of Ilva. “I’m bringing something unique, interesting and inspiring to a moribund British market.”

With the backing of the private-equity firm Advent International, which has invested hundreds of millions of pounds, Toogood plans to create a market leader in Britain.

He is, of course, not the first to spot the opportunity in the furniture sector. For many retailers it is the last frontier: a fragmented market where the 10 largest companies control only 25% of the market.

Britain’s traditional furniture sellers are in disarray. A lack of investment in new products and innovation has left them heavily reliant on promotions and sales, says Verdict Research, a retail analyst.

But cracking the market won’t be easy. Fortunes have been squandered and reputations trashed trying to break into the sector. Marks & Spencer was confident that Vittorio Radice, who was credited with transforming Selfridges, the department-store group, could develop a stand-alone furniture store. But the multi-million-pound experiment flopped. And the American retailer Ethan Allen retreated from Britan last year after a four-year trial.

So will Ilva and Toogood be any different?

IN 2001, following the break-up of Kingfisher, Toogood found himself with time on his hands after decades running some of the best-known names on the high street, including B&Q and Superdrug.

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