John Dickson, executive chairman at Owen Pugh, which employs 250 workers and has recently grown its turnover from £16m to £21m, said: “We are involved in a number of frameworks with Northumbrian Water and they are a really important client for us.

“This is particularly the case when you consider that the construction market is seeing very few building projects come through at present.”

Firms have until July 22 to register their interest, before which they will be asked to forward an official tender for work within the framework.

Brian Manning, chief executive at the Esh Group, said: “It’s encouraging that the flow of work is continuing from Northumbrian Water, which is why it has won the Queens Award for sustainability. Our work for the company represents between 12% and 15%

Contracts from Northumbrian Water have been a lifeline to many construction companies