A team from Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) is celebrating success after completing the first Velo Birmingham charity event.

The 100-mile cycle event, which took place on Sunday (September 24), started and ended in Birmingham and took 15,000 riders through towns and villages in Worcestershire and Staffordshire.

Five members of the LSH Nottingham team – Phil Quiggin, Natalie Toms, Raman Sharma, Robbie Farrell and Liam Hawes – spent months preparing for the gruelling ride and completed the course together in under eight hours.

Phil, who is head of LSH's Nottingham office, said they entered a team for the physical and mental challenges. While he and Natalie are regular cyclists, Robbie and Liam had never ridden more than 50 miles before and Raman was a beginner when he signed up for it.

“It was a fantastic experience and the amazing support along the route kept us going to the finish,” said Phil. “We’d done some training together and although we completed the course in good time, we were all exhausted. Nevertheless, we’re already committing to next year’s Velo and hope to return with a bigger team.”

This year’s Velo Birmingham is expected to raise more than £1 million for good causes, including official charity partners Alzheimer’s Society, NSPCC, Cure Leukaemia and Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity.