Repro is still a mainstay of the UK furniture sector and the stuff on show at the Furniture Show covered the gamut – from modest polished oak occasional furniture for the standard suburban semi, to the truly opulent, such as the mahogany sleigh bed from Victoria Collection which was clearly aimed at those with Napoleon and Josephine tendencies.

But the show also demonstrated that British consumers are becoming more adventurous and, to keep them happy, manufacturers are increasingly pushing back the design boundaries – with timber being one of their principal materials of choice.

‘Wood’s strong ecological story is increasingly attracting furniture makers, as is its versatility which suits it to current design trends, from baroque, to new geometric interpretations of classic styles,’ said John Cook of the show’s style consultant TrendHub.

‘A particularly strong trend is the blending of timber and panel products with other materials; stone, glass, plastic and steel.’

For the past few years, he added, light woods have been firmly to the fore, but now darker species are making their presence increasingly felt.

‘This year we’re seeing a lot of teak, mahogany and dark oak,’ he said. ‘But, maybe the strongest growth is in cherry, perhaps because it’s a halfway house between the blond and dark woods.’

A new manufacturer making a light/dark compromise and blending cherry with maple was The Moving Furniture Company. Its products, said managing director Michael Clark, are designed for ‘small-space living’ and the compact office. Incorporating German rechargeable lifting systems, they include a coffee table that folds out at the press of a remote control button into a dining table, and a sideboard secreting a huge £12,500 plasma-screen television.

A trio of stands promoted a multi-national design, timber sourcing and manufacturing effort. The Sable Island and Christopher Healey furniture was UK designed, and the John Kelly range styled in the US. The first company’s range used Virginian cherry, the other two, American black steamed walnut, and all the furniture was made at the Fowseng Industries factory in Malaysia.

‘We’re breaking with the Malaysian tradition of just producing mass market,’ said Fowseng’s general manager Charlyn Ng. ‘We’re combining the quality of American hardwood, the sophistication of US and UK design and the low production costs of Malaysia.’

A stunning new range on the Wade Furniture stand, the art deco Atlantic Collection, used figured anegré and mahogany. And at the opposite end of the finish spectrum, Antix of France showed ultra-distressed heavyweight oak farmhouse styles.

Pine too was in evidence, for instance in rough and ready form in the Arts and Crafts collection from Roger Appleyard and, more polished, teamed with maple, in YP’s New Frontier range.