A further £850,000 has been made available to Warwickshire businesses.

This brings the total amount of funding through the 'Adapt and Diversify' grant scheme to £1.5million.

Led by Warwickshire County Council, local businesses in the retail, hospitality, tourism and leisure sectors and their supply chains can apply for a range of grants.

The scheme aims to support businesses most affected by the pandemic and runs alongside other grants administered by district and borough councils.

Applicants must be able to show that they have been negatively affected by Covid-19 and have clear plans to adapt and diversify their business.

Earlier in the year, the county council made an initial £1m available for businesses, with so many applications being received that it had to be stopped after just one day.

Statistics reveal though that many of the businesses were ineligible, and as such just £625,000 was shared between 53 different applications.

A further £850,000 is now available for small businesses to apply for again.

Grant options:

- Grants of between £2,500 and £5,000 are available towards the costs of specialist advice – for example: accountants, legal advice, digital specialists.

- Grants of between £2,500 and £20,000 for accessing speciality expertise and/ or the purchase of new equipment, or the refurbishment of property that will help the business to diversify their offer and safeguard their immediate future and the jobs of their workforce.

David Ayton-Hill, Warwickshire County Council's assistant director for communities, said: "We have relaunched the Adapt and Diversify grant scheme to continue our support to businesses who have been badly affected by the pandemic.

"The first round of grants saw over 50 businesses benefitting and they are already adapting their offer so that they can be sustainable, grow and continue to offer employment. That is terrific news and we are now in position to invite more businesses to do the same."

The Adapt and Diversify grant application window opens at 9.30am on Monday 17 May on a first come, first served basis with businesses urged to use the interim period to prepare their applications.

More information on the application process can be found online here.