It’s time for Peter Mantell to ‘pass the mantle’ at the Chamber

Honorary Chamber solicitor Peter Mantell is retiring after 20 years. Here he talks about the highlights and challenges and why he loves Southwark.

When Peter Mantell sat on the front row of his first Chamber event so he could follow the proceedings better, he hadn’t expected to be asked to join the committee.

Now 20 years later, Peter has retired from his roles as director, vice chair and honorary solicitor, having also served a term as chairman of Southwark Chamber of Commerce.

Peter has worked for Anthony Gold solicitors’ firm since 2003, when his previous company merged with Anthony Gold. When the Chamber asked for a representative of the firm to attend the AGM, Peter’s head of department asked him if he would like to go. He was asked at the event if he would become the Chamber’s honorary legal advisor, a post he has held ever since, alongside his other key roles within the Chamber. He is very proud of his roles with the

Chamber and is keen to support other businesses.

“We do anything we can to help businesses,” said Peter, who is a Consultant at Anthony Gold, specialising in the commercial and conveyancing department.

“It’s networking events, education and networking outside the Chamber too. It’s good to see how other Chambers do things and we can all share ideas. It’s good to share business ideas and best practice.

“When I went to my first Chamber event, it was the AGM and I was sitting on the front row as I used to wear glasses and have a bit of a hearing impediment so I always try to sit in the front row.

“The old chairman was there and the new chairman and MP Simon Hughes and they were electing members of the new committee. They needed a honorary legal adviser and Simon Hughes looked down to me so I said ‘Am I the only qualified solicitor in the room?’ and they said yes, so I volunteered to do the role – and it stuck. So, the very first Chamber meeting I went to, I joined the executive.”

Peter was the chairman of the Chamber in 2018-19, and stayed on as vice-chairman following his year’s stint as chairman, and by that time the Chamber had changed its constitution.

“I did the legal work and incorporated us as a limited company and created three director posts: the chairman and two vice-chairs,” he added.

There have been highlights and challenges along the 20 years, with the Chamber’s members facing increasing challenges in the last couple of years – including Brexit, the Covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis – which Peter has endeavoured to help others weather through.

“The first Southwark Business Awards were really important to us,” he said.

“We launched in The Shard and held a black-tie dinner at London Hilton to expand our reach.

“We did the Southwark Business Awards online in 2020 because it was really important to keep the momentum going. It’s one thing getting dressed up and attending an event and another thing doing it via Zoom but you do what you can in those sorts of environments.

“The pandemic was a big issue for us, all of us.”

Peter qualified as a notary public in 2012 and has worked in this profession ever since. His work includes certifying and witnessing documents for use in all foreign jurisdictions as well as some specialist professional witness work in England and Wales.

As a notary public, Peter is separately qualified and regulated by the Faculty Office of the Archbishop of Canterbury; his notarial work is separate from his work as a Consultant at Anthony Gold.

Peter didn’t start his career as a solicitor in London. Born near Toronto, Peter moved to the UK in 1981 and lived across the country before he settled in London in 2001 where he jokes he has to live thanks to his Londoner wife.

He held a range of roles for 10 years prior to becoming a solicitor including a stint working in circulation at The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail.

“You can imagine the editor meetings,” he said. “I used to be the numbers man so would just have to remember all the circulation figures.”

A chance meeting at a party with someone who worked for a law school sowed the seed of Peter becoming a solicitor. He studied law at Nottingham Trent University, where he met his wife Debbie, and the couple moved to London after graduation.

And, although Peter has decided to slow down by stepping down from his instrumental roles with the Chamber, he intends to continue working for another four to five years.

Peter has worked at the Elephant & Castle branch for the past 20 years but this is all changing as the branch moves en masse to better premises at London Bridge with more facilities for clients.

Although he lives north of the river, Southwark holds a special place in his heart.

“Southwark is a wonderful place,” he said. “People think they have to be based in Westminster or in the City but in Southwark, you are only 20 minutes away. Southwark is in the middle of everything. I look north into the City, west to the Houses of Parliament; it’s much more central than you think.

“It’s a historical part of London and has a rich history. It was a Roman settlement, a church has been on the site of Southwark Cathedral for centuries, the Canterbury Tales started here [the pilgrims gather at the Tabard Inn in Southwark at the beginning of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales].

“Anthony Gold and other big solicitor firms and accountants are based here; there is the Borough Market, which has been here almost 1,000 years; there are all sorts of hidden gems here.

“Plus, it’s a familiar place to me now. I know the politicians, I know the places, and it’s somewhere that continues to surprise us.”