CALL centre group Webhelp UK is creating around 400 new jobs to effectively double the size of its operations in Dunoon and Kilmarnock.

The company has its UK headquarters in Larbert and already employs thousands of people across Scotland.

It said the latest expansion comes on the back of increasing demand for its services from blue chip clients.

Current customers include the likes of Sky, EE, Vodafone, First Utility, Office Depot, Mobile by Sainsbury's and Plusnet.

Along with handling traditional telephone calls Webhelp also works in web chats, email, SMS messaging and social media monitoring.

The new positions are expected to be filled over the next few months with interviews for the 300 Kilmarnock jobs being done over the next few weeks. A further 100 people will be recruited in Dunoon.

The additional jobs should provide a boost for the local economy in the west of Scotland. One of the worst blows in the area was the 700 jobs which were lost in Kilmarnock when Diageo announced plans to shut down in its Johnnie Walker bottling plant in 2009. The facility eventually closed its doors in 2012.

Both the Kilmarnock and Dunoon locations are part of Webhelp UK's centre of excellence programme.

That is said to give staff clear career progression routes and flexible working patterns while also using specially formed workplace groups to help share skills and expertise.

The company says it aims to make sure turnover levels of staff remain as low as possible.

Allison Hill, head of recruitment at Webhelp said: "As a centre of excellence recruiting the right people is critical for our business, so ensuring its employees are comprehensively trained and the environment they work in is vibrant, engaging and motivating is extremely important to us.

"In addition, Webhelp wants to ensure that at every level our team members are being incentivised to perform at their peak and have the opportunity to progress within the business.

"We want Webhelp UK to be an employer of choice that the best people want to join and stay with us for years to come."

Ms Hill indicated the company would look to existing workers to recommend potential new employees.

Webhelp also intends to reward existing staff with £1,000 if any person they recommend manages to land a job.

Ms Hill added: "Another way we want to recruit is through our existing network.

"Research tells us the most successful way to enrol new team members is when our current employees recommend friends and family to us.

"Therefore we are excited to announce that we have increased our incentive to up to £1,000 for our 'Refer a Friend' initiative for every successful recommendation."

Webhelp UK, which employs 6,000 people in total, is headed by Edinburgh-born former Marks & Spencer and Trinity Horne executive David Turner.

Paris based parent Webhelp Group bought Telecom Service Centres, then owned by Indian conglomerate Hero Group, for £77m in February 2013.

Hero Group had paid around £40m for the business five years previously.

TSC was started in Rothesay in the mid-1990s with seven employees.

Its other current sites are in Glasgow, Greenock, Dearne Valley, Warrington, Derby and London.

The most recent accounts for Telecom Service Centres, which cover its trading for the 2013 calendar year, show turnover at £93.2m and pre-tax profits of £10.3m.

The directors said in the accounts the business had committed significant investment in 2014 which would affect margins in the short-term but would help to underpin growth for the future.

Mr Turner said at the time of the Webhelp deal he was hopeful the business would increase its staffing numbers in the UK.