The masonry products manufacturer revealed the impact of Covid-19 in its half year results which showed a pre-tax loss of £23.3m for the six months to June 30 compared to a £32.7m profit last time on revenue down to £122.4m from £193.6m.

Forterra said trading since lockdown ended has exceeded management expectations and it is looking to make a full-year profit of up to £32m.

The company has cut costs by £10.4m which resulted in 225 job losses.

Forterra said: “We remain very confident in the long-term recovery of our markets. Trading since emerging from lockdown has exceeded management’s expectations.

“We have restarted production at all of our manufacturing facilities and by the end of August the vast majority of our employees had returned from furlough.”