Merchant Travis Perkins was also in positive mood as revenue continued to rise from lockdown lows.

Alumasc enjoyed record profits in the first quarter of the financial year from April to June.

Its three divisions – Building Envelope, Water Management and Housebuilding Products – all contributed as demand increased and benefits of a £2.4m cost-cutting programme filtered through.

Chairman John S. McCall said: ‘It is still too early to know the extent to which the strength in the UK construction industry, which underpins this performance, reflects pent up demand from the period of lockdown as opposed to the true level of ongoing demand.

“However, there is nothing abnormal in the strong patterns of demand that we have experienced, with new commercial ventures continuing to lag other subsectors of the market.”

Travis Perkins saw like-for-like sales grow 3.9% in Q3 with domestic demand leading the way ahead of commercial construction.

Nick Roberts, Chief Executive, said: “Whilst local trade activity has recovered well, our trade businesses continue to experience a lag in recovery from larger housebuilding and construction projects.

“However, there are signs of increasing workflow across these sectors as underlying demand strengthens as businesses have adapted to new and safe ways of working that enable them to keep sites open during periods of local lockdown.”

The update added: “The larger end of customer activity has been slower to return to normal, and at the end of September both new housebuilding and commercial construction continue to run at levels some way below 2019.”