The impact of the pandemic saw pre-tax profits for the year to June 30 2020 drop to £2.7m from £3.9m last time as turnover reduced to £76m from £90.1m.

Chief Executive Paul Hooper said: “The Group responded quickly to the Covid-19 outbreak to protect the business, its employees and all our stakeholders.

“The result of this swift action led to the Group reporting a strong recovery from June onwards, with July 2020 being a record performance for the month and August 2020 performance also being very strong at both revenue and profits level.

“Management remains appropriately cautious given the limited visibility as to how the wider economic situation will evolve but is cautiously confident in its ability to deliver operationally in the uncertain macroeconomic climate.”

Alumasc was already restructuring and in the middle of a cost reduction programme saving £2.4m when the pandemic hit.

Chairman John McCall said: “Managing the unpredicted and unpredictable effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has required a combination of very short term – daily almost – assessment of market conditions, up and down, with a firm eye on longer term and, hopefully, more permanent goals.

“While some things will undoubtedly change for ever, greater investment in many of the projects targeted by Alumasc – schools, hospitals, prisons, infrastructure – is seen both as part of the solution to the “problem” and as meriting much greater emphasis in their own right.

“This can only encourage the Board to believe that the changes of recent years have been right for Alumasc and will position it well in coming years.”