The Federation’s lastest State of Trade Survey shows the net balance for workloads, expected workloads and enquiries in the second quarter of 2013 was positive across most of the UK for the first time in six years.

Brian Berry, the Chief Executive of the FMB, said: “After one of the toughest and most sustained economic downturns since the Second World War, it is encouraging to see conditions may be easing for Britain’s beleaguered builders.

“It is a testament to the resilience, work ethic and professionalism of SME builders, many of whom have had to cut their cloth accordingly and eat into their profits to maintain staffing and capacity in the hope that a better day would come.

“While these figures are a sign that the worst may finally be behind us, the building trade has a long way to go to get back to pre-2008 levels of employment and output, and there are many hurdles still to overcome.

“We must not be complacent, as consumer confidence is fragile at best.”

Things were grimmer in Scotland where a negative net balance of -26 was recorded showing that conditions had deteriorated for SME builders during the three months to June.