The contractor opened the new technology centre in Worle in 2019 with a £3.5m investment and plans to employ 150 people.

Sources told the Enquirer that numbers have been pared back at the centre over the last few years with the latest round of job cuts imminent.

One said: “Once this round of redundancies takes place there won’t be a lot left of the centre which was once heralded as the future of the business.”

At the time of the centre’s launch Costain said: “The new facility has been designed with collaboration at the forefront. A virtual reality suite allows users to digitally submerge themselves in concepts and test designs while providing virtual reality connection to the Group nationwide.

“State-of-the-art 4k screens dominate the space allowing a fully immersive experience for staff and visitors.

“The architectural design enables interaction between all disciplines and provides a large amount of communal breakout spaces and configurable demonstration areas for creative thinking.”

The scaling down follows a review of Costain’s digital operations.

A Costain spokesperson said: “Following an extensive market review, we are repositioning our digital activities to focus on areas that we expect to grow more quickly over the coming years.

“While a small number of roles are at risk, we will look to redeploy people within the business where possible and, as a result of the investment in priority growth areas, Costain will see a net increase of approximately 175 jobs over the next year.”

Costain said in its latest results announcement that it will be focusing digital activities on “service capabilities including: situational intelligence (real-time monitoring systems) and digital twins (construction and operational)” while “ceasing the more commoditised development and manufacturing activities of operational technology.”