A £1MILLION college, the brainchild of Scots engineering tycoon Jim McColl, has officially launched.

Newlands Junior College will see teenagers from Glasgow's South Side offered the chance to learn a trade.

Housed in the same building where Mr McColl trained as an apprentice engineer at Weir Pumps, in Cathcart, the school will take pupils aged 14 to 16.

Some 30 will be chosen to study maths, English, ICT and science, with an emphasis on personal development.

Head teacher Iain White said the approach of the vocational school will be innovative and radical.

Mr McColl said: "On my first day as an apprentice at Weir Pumps I was allowed to feel that my whole life was ahead of me and I could go on to do anything I put my mind to.

"That is exactly what I want for the young people coming in to train here."

The college, which will open next month, will be funded by a partnership between six private investors, the Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council, with each of them contributing £100,000.

At the end of the two-year course, all students will be offered an apprenticeship, either with Mr McColl's firm, Clyde Blowers, or partnership firms.

Potential entrants can be nominated by their school or can approach the college directly.

Iain White, head teacher at Govan High for the past 20 years, was handpicked by Mr McColl to lead the college, said he was looking for young people with "talent, spark and potential" to join the venture.

Mr White added: "It is a very exciting thing to be involved with and I believe we can make a real difference to the clients who join us.

"I say clients because we are using a model that is designed to fit the young people and give them what they need to succeed."

catriona.stewart@eveningtimes.co.uk