When the economy catches a cold, the construction sector has flu’, declares KPMG partner Andrew Marshall, and unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so, news that the UK economy is not in its healthiest state should lead naturally to the conclusion that the building industry is metaphorically under the weather, despite a slurry of strong pre-tax profits announced over the summer.

According to research by PwC, over 5,500 companies have gone into insolvency since the third quarter of 2010, equating to more than 600 insolvencies occurring in each three-month period. Of course, whenever companies go out of business, job losses follow, taking another batch of skilled tradesmen out of the employment market.