Speedy Hire warned of a sharp fall in revenue for the first half of the year, as a fragile construction market combined with the cancellation of big-build projects weighed on the tool and machinery rental group.

With the UK construction industry in the midst its worst contraction on record, Speedy said it expected revenue to fall 29 per cent year-on-year for the first six months to October and warned of “significant uncertainty in the current outlook”.