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The firm is now receiving deliveries of cladding from the Swiss fabrication plant at the Aldermanbury Square office project at London Wall, despite the collapse of the continental firm last month.

A spokesman said: "We received further deliveries this week. We are optimistic we will continue to use Schmidlin and its future owner."

The firm is believed to have five weeks' worth of extra cladding. This is expected to get the cladding up to the 12th floor of the 20-storey block. The scheme is due for completion in the autumn.

A source close to the project team said the hope was that five weeks would be enough time for a sale of the fabrication plant and production to be back up and running at. One bidder is already believed to be negotiating to buy the plant.

The source close to the Aldermanbury Square scheme added that Bovis could back the initial bidders for the cladding package of the scheme, designed by Eric Parry Associates, if necessary to finish the job. The bidders included German firm Gartners.

We are optimistic we will continue to use Schmidlin and its future owner

Spokesman, Bovis Lend Lease

Production stopped at the plant last month after Schmidlin Façade Technology declared itself bankrupt on 22 February, citing a loss of £5.7m on projects.

Schmidlin UK, which is still trading, pledged to complete ongoing projects, which also include the Willis ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½ on Lime Street, being construction managed by Mace. Six bidders were initially understood to be vying to buy both the fabrication plant, where some work has restarted, and the design business based in Aesch, Switzerland.

The collapse of the Swiss firm has led to concern in the market over the capacity in the cladding market. It centred on the lack of competitiveness among high-end façade contractors.