Sales through the UK government’s Digital Marketplace have topped £1bn.

The website was touted as making it easier for small businesses to win government work. Figures released by the Cabinet Office showed that over half (£521m) of the total sales have now gone to small businesses, with nearly 90% of the 2,700 suppliers on the marketplace being businesses of this size.

The government said there was also evidence that the marketplace is helping businesses grow. It said a recent survey found 31% of suppliers had increased their headcount as direct result of being on the marketplace, with 5% increasing their turnover by £1 million or more.

The Digital Marketplace was also said by the government to be helping firms outside London, with 58% of suppliers now based beyond the M25 compared with the London-centric supplier base it had in 2010.

The Digital Marketplace uses the cloud to provide a single place for the public sector to buy IT services such as site analytics, hosting services and digital specialists. It touted the “simple design” of the new website as helping make it easier for buyers to find what they need when they need it.

It said the platform was built using an “agile, user-centric design approach”, meaning that it has been continually adapted and improved since its launch based on users’ feedback.

Cabinet Office minister and paymaster general Matthew Hancock said: “The Digital Marketplace means that the public sector now has access to a greater number of new and innovative suppliers, many of whom have never had the opportunity to work with government before.

“I’ve seen for myself how innovative smaller businesses can be, and I’m really pleased that our reforms are giving these businesses a chance to help us deliver the world class public services that people expect.”