Pictured:  (l-r) Yu-San Chan, Richard Price and James Villarreal get down to business at Glide

Birmingham Future graduate apprentice, Richard Price, has stepped into a permanent position with energy and telecommunications company Glide after successfully completing a placement with the firm as part of his apprenticeship.

Mr Price, who is an economics and geography graduate from Loughborough University, has taken on the role of sales manager in Glide's expanding team.

He will work alongside Glide cofounder and former Birmingham Young Professional of the Year James Villarreal and his business partner Sandeep Krishan. The pair founded Glide, which offers a simplified billing service to tenants and landlords, in 2006 while they were studying at the University of Birmingham.

More than 100 candidates applied for the Birmingham Future apprenticeship in 2010 and Mr Price fought off the competition to become the organisation's fifth graduate apprentice.

In his new role as Glide sales manager he will be responsible for overseeing the activities of the sales team, managing some of Glide's key accounts and helping the company to expand its business to business services.

"I really enjoyed my placement with Glide so when they offered me a permanent position with them I couldn't have been happier," said Mr Price.

"Glide is a dynamic company with ambitious plans for growth and it's fantastic to have the opportunity to work with them at a point when they're pushing to increase their customer base across the country.

"I learnt so much during my stint as the Birmingham Future Apprentice, with placements at Deloitte and Brewin Dolphin as well as Glide, and I hope to use all of that valuable experience in my new role."

Glide recently raised £735,000 of development capital funding from private investors to grow its sales and operations team and accelerate its expansion into major cities across the UK.