DALRY based McTaggart Group, has been announced as one of the first Scottish construction companies to sign up to the UK Government’s Kickstart Scheme.

The homebuilder, who build mainly affordable housing, will deliver up to 55 positions for young people across the central belt of Scotland including in Ayrshire as a partner of the scheme.

The Kickstart Scheme is a £2billion fund to create hundreds of thousands of high quality six-month work placements aimed at those aged 16-24 who are on Universal Credit and are deemed to be at risk of long term unemployment.

The majority of the opportunities will be within McTaggart Construction, the main contracting business of the group who currently have nearly 1,500 new homes on site, over 90 per cent of which are for housing associations and councils in some of the most disadvantaged areas in Scotland.

Ross Hammell, McTaggart Construction’s sustainable communities programme manager said: “McTaggart has been at the forefront of generating youth employment opportunities in construction for several years now.

“Kickstart affords employers like us the ability to double down on this commitment.”

The young people who secure a place with McTaggart will receive a personal development plan, on-site experience and mentoring from their team.   

Opportunities will be advertised via Jobcentre Plus.