Nobody's Spear Carrier - Roy Peter

It was an inauspicious start. Born in late December 1939 in a room above a fish and chip shop in Chatham High Street life continued with just one constant for the next twenty years for Peter Roy - moving home.

His father found it impossible to hold a job for any length of time and as accommodation was always part of running the shop, they were frequently on the move: Chatham, Sutton, Carshalton, Askern, Peckham, East Ham and Plaistow.

Remembering thirteen schools in all with some big gaps in between. Somehow enough examinations were passed to obtain an apprenticeship to an accountant. That was the equivalent of time travelling back to Dickensian London. After two years at starvation wages, Peter threw in the towel, turned mother's picture to the wall and walked away.

After a couple of dead end jobs, he was picked up by an audit firm in Holborn and worked there for several years, finishing his training on an informal basis. But after seven years he sat in the wrong chair at a client audit and was forced to quit by the firm's general manager after a mega shouting match, turning this into the opportunity to provided space and time to complete his examinations. Then for the next thirty years, I mainly worked in the world of advertising and entertainment where I discovered many excellent people but too many sad and downright badasses to test one's mettle.