GROUPS in Oxfordshire are to share in a 4m boost for business skills, writes Sarah Parker.

The payout by the South East England Development Agency Seeda aims to link businesses and training providers in a series of projects to raise skill levels in a range of high-tech high-growth industry sectors.

Among the 11 projects to be funded by the Seeda Fund for Learning and Skills is the South East Opto-Electronic Skills Delivery, led by Oxford Innovation. This project helps to develop the right skills to help the opto-electronic industry grow. Another is Managing Skills and Mentoring for High Growth, led by Oxfordshire BioLink.

Also benefiting will be Oxford Virtual Campus, an on-line learning network led by the Heart of England Training and Enterprise Council covering basic management training to bridge the skills gap in areas such as human resources and marketing.

Seeda chief executive Anthony Dunnett said: "Hi-tech, high-growth businesses are the key to the future of this region as one of the world's leading economies.

"We recognise that there are three building blocks for a successful knowledge-driven value-added economy and these are the physical infrastructure, the skills infrastructure and the virtual infrastructure.

"We must develop each of these in order to give the region's businesses the competitive edge they need."

The new fund will reinforce Seeda's strategy to develop the region's knowledge-based economy.