Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have benefitted from a 27.1 per cent increase in spending from the central government.

From 2014 to 2015, the government has recorded that £12.1 billion of its spending was with small businesses.

The government's figures show that 10.9 per cent of this amount was spent directly into SMEs, while 16.2 per cent was done through the supply chain.

These figures indicate a 2.1 per cent increase on the projected spending by the central government across this business year, which marks a positive result as the government plans to further increase the amount it spends with SMEs.

An unexpected upshot of spending in this area sees the government in a good position to reach its target for a third of central government to be buying with SMEs in just five years time.

Minister for the cabinet office and paymaster general Matt Hancock spoke favourably on the government spending in this area, saying: "Small businesses are the lifeblood of the UK economy… I want to see as many of them as possible competing for and winning public sector contracts."