SMEs anxious over lockdown lift delays Research from Nucleus Commercial Finance shows that almost a third of small businesses fear that lockdown restrictions will not be eased by June 21 as scheduled, with 26% of SMEs saying they expect the lifting of restrictions to be delayed. The poll, taken before Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned on Friday that the Indian coronavirus variant poses a threat to the exit roadmap, shows that SMEs in the south-west were most pessimistic, with 44% fearful of future lockdowns compared to 23% in the north-west, the most optimistic region.