According to latest figures from PwC, the industry is set on a course of losing more than 6,000 firms to insolvency over two years.

In the last month alone, Doyle Group, Airedale Mechanical & Electrical and the former contracting arm of the Shaylor Group have been placed in administration.

Firms have suffered from a combination of prolonged suicidal bidding, disputed payments or most commonly simply not enough work to keep cash flow going.

Of the 5,527 construction companies that have fallen victim, around 30% were general construction and civil engineering firms, the remainder made up of architectural, building, water projects, painting, roofing and plastering.

Almost 1,000 insolvencies across the industry have hit London firms since September 2010.

Latest quarterly insolvency figures show there was a slight let up in the rate of company failures in the second quarter of this year, 15% down on the first three months of the year.

But even on present rates the industry is set to top more than 6,000 company failures in just two years.