MENTORN, the company behind programmes ranging from Question Time to Robot Wars, is set to further boost Scotland's creative community when it officially opens its Glasgow office later today.

By February, Mentorn Scotland will employ 15 people working out of offices in Clyde Street. The new business represents a six-figure investment by its parent company, Television Corporation, and will be run by managing director Charles Thompson and head of programming Jane Rogerson, a former award-winning executive with the BBC.

Tom Gutteridge, director of content and marketing at Television Corporation, said Mentorn Scotland would operate as a network production house that happened to be located in one of the regions outside London. It will therefore not be limited to making programmes for transmission in Scotland, but will also produce work for other parts of the UK and the rest of the world.

''We were actually quite keen to move into Scotland four or five years ago, when devolution was on the cards,'' Gutteridge said. ''We saw it as a great opportunity.''

However, the move didn't stack up financially, as the broadcasters that Mentorn makes its programmes for did not take seriously anything produced outside London. Gutteridge said that attitude was changing, particularly within Channel 4 and the BBC. He is now keen to bring Scottish producers based in London back to this country.

''That's really one of our main goals, to stop this drift of talent to London,'' he said. ''There is great talent in the regional skills base.''

Rogerson has already hired a number of Scottish programme makers to staff the Glasgow office, and some of these recruits will be re-locating to Scotland

as a result. They include Iain Scollay, a producer/director on the recent ''Faking It'' series for Channel 4.

Mentorn currently employs about 250 in London and Oxfordshire, and has a turnover of nearly (pounds) 30m. The Scottish business expects turnover to reach (pounds) 2m in the first year, and has already secured about half of that with commissions from BBC1 for documentary programming.

Mentorn has a specialist factual brand, Folio, responsible for documentary work. Folio will operate a unit within Mentorn Scotland that will produce a four-part police series called ''Shops, Robbers & Videotape''and a fly-on-the-wall series about the South Yorkshire police, for BBC1.

Although the focus will initially be on documentary work - an area where Rogerson has extensive experience - Gutteridge said Mentorn Scotland would also be open to produc-tion in the entertainment arena. When that happens will depend on demand from broadcasters,

as well as the recruitment of suitable staff.

Rogerson described Mentorn's decision to open in Glasgow as

a ''fantastic opportunity'' for Scotland's expanding production sector.

''We will use (Mentorn's) success to offer first-class programme makers the chance to re-locate to Scotland, and to nurture the impressive base of young talent already here,'' she said. ''We will offer to all networks high-quality, successful programmes on a diverse range of subjects, be they Scottish, British, or international.''

Both the BBC and Channel 4 have welcomed Mentorn's decision to establish an operation

in Scotland. Colin Cameron, head of nations and regions for the BBC, said the move was a recognition of Scotland's creative talent, and would

add strength to the growing production community.

Mentorn is one of two subsidiaries primarily responsible for the doubling of Television Corporation's turnover during the six months to June 30. The parent company's sales during the half-year reached (pounds) 35.6m, including a contribution of (pounds) 20.9m from activities related

to the production of content.

''Trading in the core divisions of Sunset+Vine and Mentorn continues very strongly and is exceeding expectations,'' the company's interim statement said.