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Wates was catapulted to the top of the league table for April after winning 拢342m of work, almost double the amount of Balfour Beatty, its nearest rival.

But, in a depressing indication of the industry鈥檚 current fortunes, less than 10% of of this came from the commercial sector. Even so, it is worth pointing out that the total value of contracts won during April by the top 30 contractors was 拢1.9bn, which is significantly higher than the same period last year when the top 30 won 拢1.4bn. It was also higher than April 2008, when 拢1.8bn of work was won.

Andy Brown, an analyst at stockbroker Panmure Gordon, said: 鈥淚t will be the end of the year before things pick up in the commercial market. There鈥檚 been a bit more activity in London at the moment, so by the fourth quarter we should see more positive data.鈥�

But in a week when cuts in public spending and the reduction of the nation鈥檚 massive budget deficit have been at the centre of the power sharing discussions between the parties that hope to form the next government, Whitehall remains the principal source of income for the industry.

More than 拢200m of Wates鈥� haul came from three social housing jobs in London. Balfour was boosted by more than 拢100m worth of work for Network Rail.

Within the top 10 earners last month, only Rok made more from commercial work than the public sector in April. Rok鈥檚 commercial haul for the month was boosted by winning a 拢29.5m bottling plant in Fife for drink company Diageo. 

The other big commercial winner was Laing O鈥橰ourke, which jumped from 27th place to 12th after scooping a 拢55m contract from Stanhope for a retail development in the capital.

Balfour remains in pole position over the year with 拢7.3bn worth of work, way ahead of rivals Skanska, Kier, Laing O鈥橰ourke and Morgan Sindall, which are all below 拢3bn.