Opportunity Wales, a scheme to help businesses develop ecommerce capabilities, has been singled out as one of the best of its kind in Europe by a European Union review.

The scheme was one of four out of 150 praised as illustrating best practice in the delivery of ecommerce support to small businesses, in a study carried out by the EU's ebusiness policy group.

A £21m private, public, voluntary and education sector initiative, Opportunity Wales helps firms to develop and implement commercially successful ecommerce strategies.

Christine Lloyd, the scheme's chief executive, said that it is "gratifying that others in Europe can see that this is bringing tangible bottom-line benefits to companies in Wales".