The latest Civil Engineering Contractors Association’s quarterly workload trends survey shows that after two successive quarters of falls, workloads rose in 2020 Q4.

Order books increased for 20% of firms in the last quarter of 2020 – the highest balance in  three years.

And nearly half of all firms expect headcount to rise in the coming year – the highest balance  in almost six years.

CECA Chief Executive Alasdair Reisner said: “These survey results show that the infrastructure  sector is primed to drive the recovery from Covid-19 in 2021.

“As one of the few sectors that has been able to continue working safely throughout the pandemic, we  have already seen the strategic importance of the construction and infrastructure sectors to the whole  economy.

“Now that CECA members’ workloads are increasing and order books are growing, we will see the sector  deliver much-needed job creation in all parts of the UK.

“Given the UK Government’s stated intention to ‘Build, Build, Build’, coupled with its aspiration to ‘level  up’ the economy, there has perhaps never been a better time to enter our industry, which will be at the  vanguard of our national recovery from Covid-19 as our members deliver the key infrastructure businesses  and communities rely upon.”