The millionaires, led by Glasgow tycoon Sir Willie Haughey, have committed themselves to hire under-24s and bring hope back to the nation's youth.

They are throwing their weight behind a practical cost-free scheme master-minded by Sir Willie that will recruit young "green champions".

Sir Willie – of Gorbals-based international giant City Refrigeration –believes businesses could take on youngsters, cut their energy costs and boost their environmental credentials at no cost.

But he also believes business – from small firms up – have a social responsibility to put a dent in the horrendous UK-wide figure of a million unemployed young people.

He has won the backing of fellow tycoons Michelle Mone, Sir Tom Hunter, Sir Brian Souter and Vera Weisfeld.

But Sir Willie aims to take his idea – built firmly on the banks of the Clyde – across Britain.

He told The Evening Times: "We have just over a million young people unemployed. About 1.4m businesses in the UK, which are making a profit, could be part of the solution of this problem.

"If we break this very large problem up into a million small pieces we can fix it.

"What we're trying to do is put a message out there that if every one of those businesses created a single job we could take a million out of unemployment.

"But if we take on 10,000, that would be fantastic."

Sir Willie is calling his campaign Youth With Hope and is funding it directly through City Refrigeration.

His first practical solution is for businesses to hire young people as trainee facilities managers – "Green Champions" –who will cut costs by making buildings more environmentally friendly and energy-efficient.

SUCH young workers, Sir Willie has calculated, would more than pay their way by cutting costs.

But the millionaire is also eager to see any business take on youngsters. Each firm will get a name-check in a hall of fame he has set up on a Youth With Hope website and bosses will get "H" lapel badges to show they have hired a young person.

Lingerie entrepreneur Michelle Mone said: "This is a wonderful idea and every business should have a serious look at creating one job for a young person."

Retail legend Vera Weisfeld said she and husband Gerald have signed up for the scheme.

Mrs Weisfeld: "This is exactly what Scotland needs. Although Gerald and I have retired we will create one job on our estate."

Sir Brian Souter, the bus and train mogul, said: "I support this initiative and encourage businesses across Scotland to get behind the scheme."

Multi-millionaire Sir Tom Hunter said unemployment "is the biggest challenge our society faces". He added "I applaud Willie Haughey for this initiative."

Sir Willie came up with his plan after growing concerned about the long-term effects of unemploy-ment on young people.

He said: "I watch-ed the London riots on TV last year and listened to the Archbishop of Canterbury saying the biggest dilemma we have in the UK is youth unemployment.

"So I looked to see if there was something business could do to solve it."

It is working already. Even before its official launch the Youth With Hope website shows 225 jobs secured.

ANY business with a building leaks money. And the older the building, the more money it leaks.

Many structures in Scotland and the UK are embarrassingly energy-inefficient.

Sir Willie Haughey believes that a young person, a 'Green Champion', working in any building of more than 25,000 sq ft could pay for themselves just by making sure lights were switched off and heating working correctly.

His own firm's green champion cut costs by £9000. A green champion would be paid £15,000 a year or so – but any profit-making company hiring such an employee would immediately save around £7500 in tax and other costs.

So all they need to do is cut utility bills by as much again to repay the company – and help save the planet.