Not for Profit
Peter Guest: "I concentrated on being the best father I could be, rather than the best businessperson I could be."
Published: July 8, 2021 | Updated: 9th July 2021
Ten years ago, the life of Peter Guest looked very different.
In many ways he was the archetypal capitalist.
Wheeling and dealing his way through companies, buying them up, making them successful and then selling them on.
Although a devoted husband and father of two, his attention was on business and making money.
And then his wife left him.
Peter, 53, said: “My life had been very much the way of the capitalist.
“I owned a successful company operating in a number of countries and employing around 300 people when my wife left me and my two wonderful boys.
“I soon realised that I couldn’t run that business and be a good hands-on father so I closed down all the companies and concentrated on being the best father I could be, rather than the best businessperson I could be.
“It was at this time that I realised there was no support for people like me.
“I’d given up my business and my homes and didn’t have a huge amount left.
“I’d always been profit, profit, profit so it was a shock to the system losing everything, which very often happens when you’re a lone parent, post-divorce and post financial separation.
“Although my children [now aged 25 and 20] chose to remain with me, eventually we had to approach the family courts and I decided to represent myself.
“I already knew my way around the legal system as I’d always self-represented through any litigious situations with civil law, employment law and employment disputes with my own previous companies.
“Back then, I’d never have chosen to employ a high street legal firm because they would never know the back story as well as I did.
“I found the same was true for family law.
“I was at the family courts for my own case one day when I met someone there who really needed some help.
“I’d spent a long time learning the system, filling out the forms and the paperwork.
“I knew enough by then to help, so I did.
“Since then, I have supported, often without fee, hundreds of families to help them understand the next steps, post separation.”
Peter’s experience, among others, taught him that there were many people needing support but who couldn’t afford to pay high street legal fees.
He said: “I’d discovered a gap in the market that really needed supporting.
“I’ve always been interested in emerging markets and was always looking for the best way of doing things.
“That’s when the concept for what would become BH Support was born.”
The Community Interest Company, based in Southbourne, was established in February 2020.
Peter said: “Setting up BH Support has enabled us to widen our offering.
“Using a business model of local experienced volunteers, legally trained employees and law students from our local universities, along with our community outreach team, has allowed us to help more and more people who wouldn’t have been able to afford legal fees.
“Ordinarily, the way of approaching a legal problem in your family, your home, or your work, will be to go to a high street solicitor which only some people can afford.
“If you don’t have access to any funds, or have any income at all, then you may visit a local advice centre or be entitled to and protected by legal aid.
“Sadly, legal aid has suffered hundreds of millions of pounds in cuts in the last eight years leaving a lot of people cut off and very vulnerable, often alone in court or dealing with complex legal documents and court navigation by themselves with painful emotions and heightened anxiety.
“In just the last year, at BH Support, we have assisted over 200 unique cases ranging from just our initial 30 minutes free first meeting right through to full support through many hearings and ultimately a positive outcome.
“We’ve been supported by way of small grants and social impact loan funds from the National Lottery and Big Society Capital and just recently we won our first round, an incredible £15,000 from BCP Council via the Bounce Back Challenge Fund.
“The funding means we can subsidise our rates for those that need it, meaning even more people can access our services.
“We offer advice and support for a fraction of the cost meaning that financially vulnerable people can get the support they need.
“It does mean that there are some lawyers out there who don’t appreciate fully the importance of the service we provide as I’m disrupting the system and putting purpose before profit.
“We’re like the legal support version of Robin Hood but without the green tights!
“The profit we make from our corporate clients goes directly to helping those who have nothing, closing the gap of disparity of justice.”
Peter, who is BH Support’s Executive Director and is pictured with Sally Martin and Kimberley Evans, said the past decade had made him see life in a different way.
He said: “Losing material wealth and a high income changed my outlook.
“I began to see the importance of time, and that’s what we give people first and foremost, time.
“Anyone is welcome to come and tell their story to us, by Zoom, in person over coffee, by telephone, or email, it’s entirely up to them.
“And if language is an issue, we bring in someone from within the community that can translate.
“We’re not superheroes, we’re just delivering something which is needed.
“Something we know is needed from our own lived experiences as a team.
“We care about this community, and we want to support everyone in it as best we can.”
