Over the period turnover fell 27% from £11.3m to £8.2m and the loss compared to a £1.2m profit in 2008.

The company was also hit by restructuring costs of £945,000 that included staff cuts that will see the company reduce headcount by 36%.

Chief executive Nicholas Thompson said: “At this moment we see no firm evidence of any upturn and therefore in the short term management attention will focus on the continuing need to lower our cost base to reflect current trading activity. In the longer term, when markets recover, we will revert to our corporate objective to increase revenues to £25m."