STUDENT Ben Mallinson, who has been awarded an academic scholarship by the University of Worcester for his outstanding grades, has taken a year out from this three year BSc computing course to take a work placement at mobile messaging specialists Textlocal.

The 21-year-old, from Droitwich, has been working as a technical support assistant with the award-winning company, based at the Malvern Hills Science Park.

He said working for such a rapidly-growing company along with the continued support of his university lecturers would really help in his future ambitions in the IT industry.

"The placement has worked out perfectly for me and I really enjoy what I do and the people I work with," he said.

"It has given me the opportunity to work on many projects that are currently live and being used by thousands of customers daily.

"Working for Textlocal has also really opened my eyes to how things work in the industry and confirmed my ambition to become a programmer or developer when I leave university."

Textlocal, which was established in 2005, is a market leader in developing business mobile messaging, and helps around 120,000 businesses send up to 40 million messages every month.

The company has teams based in Malvern and Chester and boasts a growing customer base and product offering.

The company was named in the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50, Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA and the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 last year.