At the contractors AGM today, Costain will report that overall activity levels have increased since the beginning of the lockdown and have now stabilised.

Alex Vaughan, CEO of Costain, said that work for strategic highway, local authority clients and water utilities  continued to progress working to modified methods incorporating Covid-19 safety measures.

On-site activities in London, which were more significantly impacted in order to ensure safe working conditions and travel,  have stabilised and improved over the course of the second quarter.

He added that Costain’s order book had benefitted from several big contract wins and extensions in the first half, which had replenished the volume of work completed.

Vaughan said: “The order book has further upside potential from some significant framework agreements including the Highways England Smart Motorway Alliance.”

He said Costain had benefitted from last month’s £100m fundraising, strengthening its balance sheet which had helped to secure more contracts.

So far this year, Costain has been named one of six partners on Highways England’s £4.5bn Smart Motorway Alliance and separately picked up the £210m contract to upgrade the A30 in Cornwall.

It also for the first time won a spot on Highways England’s £300m Specialist Professional and Technical Services framework to be used to deliver the £27bn road investment strategy over the next five years.

In the water sector, Costain is a partner on Anglian Water’s £350m Strategic Pipeline Alliance, a partner on Yorkshire Water’s £51m Technical Services Framework and picked up a consulting contract for Thames Water for the programme management of its multi-million pound AMP7 capital programme.

Vaughan said: “I am proud of how our business has transitioned to new ways of working safely and productively during this challenging period for all of our colleagues, clients, supply chain partners and communities.

“We are already seeing the benefit from our strengthened balance sheet with several new contract wins and framework awards.

“The impact of Covid-19 remains uncertain, however, Costain is well-positioned to successfully navigate through the current environment and capitalise on the significant opportunities that the UK infrastructure market offers.

“We remain confident in the positive forward outlook for the business.”