The £700m revenue group, which operates across Scotland and the North of England, has been particularly hard hit by the prolonged Scottish lockdown, which only allows limited working on sites.

Chief executive Elliot Robinson said: “Over the last 12 months we have implemented several measures to improve operational efficiency.

“While we have been successful in reducing some costs, our overhead cost base is still beyond where we need it to be.

“The group now finds itself in the unfortunate position of having potential redundancies across the business.”

He added that given the unprecedented circumstances and the severity of the outlook, other immediate actions also needed to be undertaken.

Annual pay increases from September will be deferred for a year. There will also be a recruitment freeze and restrictions on non-essential travel and training.

The firm has not said how many of the near 3,0000 strong workforce will be impacted.

A spokesperson for Robertson Group, said: “As a business, we rely on income being generated from being able to work on site.

“The emergency measures in relation to Covid-19 severely restricted our income over the last three months and like many others in the construction sector, we have had to implement this difficult decision in order that we can ensure that we maintain a sustainable environment for our business.

“Throughout this process we will continue to fully support all of our employees, including additional support for those whose roles are directly impacted.”