The Government has made available grant funding for businesses that share working spaces and which therefore miss out on existing coronavirus support schemes.

The local authority discretionary grant fund was announced on Saturday 2 May and is worth £617 million in total - a 5% increase on the £12.33 billion already pledged.

The existing grants are delivered via English councils and provide payments of either £10,000 or £25,000 to companies paying business rates depending on the rateable value of their business property.

Market traders, street food pop-ups and those using co-working office spaces don't pay business rates which is why this additional scheme was considered necessary.

Bed-and-breakfast owners, who pay council tax rather than business rates, are also expected to benefit.

Councils have been told to exercise discretion in deciding which types of business might be eligible based on local knowledge and need.

Grants are capped at £25,000 and apply to small firms with fewer than 50 employees that were trading on or before 11 March 2020.

In addition, businesses claiming the new grant will be expected to demonstrate that they have ongoing fixed building-related costs and have suffered a fall in income due to COVID-19.

Those already claiming via existing grant schemes or through the self-employment income support scheme will not be able to access this additional funding.

Talk to us about accessing government business support.