A spokeswoman stressed that the Cardiff office would not be closing.

A Balfour statement said: “Balfour Beatty is currently in consultation with six employees based in its Cardiff office.

“This is in alignment with our proposal to trade our Cardiff civil engineering operations from our Exeter office.”

Balfour is looking to its regional operations to return the business to an even keel after construction services racked-up a £41m loss during the first half of the year.

But one insider told the Enquirer that a lack of  experienced civil engineers could hamper Balfour’s plans.

He said: “Many good regional civil engineering people have left because of the new management style.

“The majority of the regional businesses are being run by builders, not civil engineers.”

A Balfour spokeswoman said: “This is just one person’s view of the company.”