The lender will be offering loans that are interest-only for the first year in order to reduce monthly repayments for businesses that are recovering from the impact of the pandemic. 

Funds can be used for any legitimate business purpose, including managing cashflow, growth and investment. 

Under the scheme, Nucleus will provide loans of between £30,000 and £10m million to SMEs seeking financial support following Covid. 

Nucleus previously supported firms through the government-backed Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). 

Nucleus Commercial Finance chief executive Chirag Shah says: “We’re delighted to have been accredited under the Recovery Loan Scheme, and pleased to be the first lender to offer interest-only on all RLS loans. 

“This is a significant development for SMEs and the broker community as businesses will be repaying less over the first year of their six year loan. This means they can use the financial support on their priorities and to future proof their business.

“Underpinning our RLS offering is our industry-leading technology, which enables us to process applications and deliver funds to businesses within hours. 

“This allowed us to play a major role in CBILS, demonstrating the role fintech lenders play at a time when traditional banks and other alternative lenders were struggling to keep up. 

“As we continue to emerge from the pandemic, we look forward to supporting businesses on the road to recovery. 

“SMEs are the backbone of the economy and by providing continued access to finance we can not only help them achieve future growth but bolster our economy too.”