The firm revealed the move after reporting a £462,000 pre-tax loss in the year to September 2019, down from a £429,000 profit last year.

Project delays also set back revenue over the year, which fell over 11% to £26m at the ground engineering contractor.

Managing director Kevin Hague said: “During 2019, the group continued to develop and improve the geotechnical and specialist walls disciplines to complement the core piling business.

“Following a period of review, the decision was taken to terminate the ground beam installation department following several years of loss-making.”

This saw its sister company Centum Pile close the 20,000 sq ft Tuxford factory in Nottinghamshire, only opened in 2017, where ground beam systems were designed and made.

Hague added: “This will greatly improve our focus on the other core disciplines offered within the group.”

“The group continues to work in a difficult marketplace and we have seen numerous large projects slip back into the future months, which we are anticipating to see the benefit in 2020.

“While there was recognition this year would be slow for the group, the decision was taken to retain out key staff in readiness for future market recovery.”