Merchant exposure to bad debts from insolvencies remains high with 625 construction companies going bust this year – 48 a week. The latest casualties bring the number of industry names who have disappeared since April 2011 to 5,500.

On a more positive note, the rate of construction insolvencies fell five percent during the first quarter of 2013 according to figures from accountant PwC.

Jonathan Hook, PwC’s Engineering & Construction leader, said: “Any reduction in the number of insolvencies in the construction sector is welcome. The sector in the UK is still experiencing declining output year on year however, so we are not necessarily over the worst yet in terms of insolvencies.

“There is an ongoing cash squeeze throughout the supply chain as has been evidenced in recent reported results. The measures in the recent Budget to support infrastructure – and in particular levels of housebuilding – are welcome, but will take a little while to feed through into output.”