Cost-of-living crisis worse than lockdowns for SMEs Research by Nucleus Commercial Finance has found that most SMEs find the current cost-of-living crisis more of a burden than the pandemic lockdowns. Chirag Shah, chief executive and founder of Nucleus Commercial Finance, said: “The scale of the current economic challenge facing UK SMEs vastly exceeds that of the pandemic, according to those at the coalface. This is forcing businesses across the UK to reassess their investment and growth strategies, closely examine their overheads, and, more often than not, lean on additional finance just to keep the lights on.”