It was set up more than 100 years ago when King Edward VII was only three years into his reign and has survived two world wars.

H Morris & Company has been making furniture in Glasgow since 1904, but is to stop production in the face of competition from China putting 39 jobs at risk.

The firm has sold the bulk of its furniture business to Lancashire-based Nathan Furniture leaving its owner Robert Morris reflecting sadly on the damage that has been inflicted on British industry in recent years.

Noting production of furniture sold under brands like Relaxateeze will move to Lancashire, Mr Morris said: “It was because of the Chinese costs that we wanted to do something.”

He added: “I feel terribly sad that the western world cannot make products against low cost countries now. The whole trade is decimated.”

Details of the sale emerged yesterday when a closely watched survey showed UK manufacturers struggled in August amid tough conditions in export market. The recent slowdown in the Chinese economy has hit demand for western products.

The findings of the Purchasing Managers Index raised fresh doubts about the effectiveness of official efforts to support manufacturing four years after George Osborne said he wanted Britain to be “carried aloft by the march of the makers”.

City economist Howard Archer said: “Lacklustre manufacturing activity is worrying for hopes that UK growth can become more balanced and less dependent on the services sector and consumer spending.”

H Morris & Company’s story casts a harsh light on how tough life is for some makers.

The firm has been providing valuable manufacturing jobs in Glasgow since it was founded by Mr Morris’ grandfather. It supplied products to retailers under brands such as G Plan.

After acquiring Homestyle Kitchens & Bedrooms in a multi-million-pound deal in 2006 the group became one of the biggest furniture makers in the UK, with more than 1,000 employees.

However, the downturn in the housing market triggered by the global financial crisis of 2008 dented demand for furniture.

H Morris & Company sold Homestyle Kitchens in April 2008.

Mr Morris decided to do a deal with Nathan Furniture after years in which Chinese rivals made life increasingly hard in the furniture business.

In July he revealed that H Morris & Company had incurred a charge of around three million pounds after selling the division that made furniture to order for businesses.

Mr Morris said then: “The whole western world has been hit be a sledgehammer from the Far East and the low cost countries.

“We can’t buy the material in this country for the same price that they can make the furniture and ship it here.”

He said many factories in England had closed up or gone bust.

The group lost £1.7m loss in the year to January 2014 when it sold its office furniture operation.

Those sales were accompanied by around 30 job losses at the company’s Glasgow plant.

However, Mr Morris said the sale of the furniture businesses to Nathan would create a bigger group that would have a much better chance of competing with overseas rivals.

He will own a significant stake in the firm and have a seat on the board.

Mr Morris said after completing the deal with Nathan, H Morris has started statutory consultation with the 39 employees of the furniture business, who may be affected by the move.

Asked how he felt about the possibility that some people may lose their jobs he said: “In any family company that’s the highest priority of a family, working with people closely.”

The company is looking at as many ways as possible to avoid compulsory redundancy, including possibly redeploying some staff.

Some sales staff will transfer to Nathan Furniture.

Mr Morris, 58, also has interests in a range of firms involved in property development and building work.

“There is a lot of property on the go,” he said.

H Morris & Company owns an equestrian centre at Fenwick in Ayrshire, which Mr Morris bought out of receivership in September 2013.

The furniture company has sold the licence to make G Plan cabinets back to Sofa Brands, which owns G Plan upholstery.

Mr Morris said financial details of the deals were confidential.