The survey aims to obtain an early picture of the current and anticipated business impact in the engineering services sector and its supply chain, to enable effective representation and advice on important issues.

ECA director of CSR, Paul Reeve, said: “Coronavirus is a fast-moving situation with significant social and economic implications. It is vital that we understand the key problems being faced by companies and how to both represent and practically support our industry in what is fast becoming a changeable and challenging near future.”

BESA director of legal and commercial, Debbie Petford, added: “Our biggest challenge is ensuring our members have certainty in this extraordinary and evolving situation – especially when we do not yet know how long it will last or what extent the economic impact will be. We have already provided guidance on a range of topics on our website but this survey is necessary to ensure nothing is overlooked.”

The survey, which is completely confidential, should take around three minutes complete. The initial deadline for responses is Friday March 27 2020 at 4pm.

The survey comes as Build UK and CECA have stated that construction sites “may have to close” due to coronavirus. The two bodies will be asking government to “identify safety critical work on the infrastructure network that is essential and must be continued”.

ECA said it is monitoring the situation closely and has created an employer advice portal.

All updates and advice about the Coronavirus from BESA are available here.