 The company was founded in 1986 by John Spiers.Bestinvest began as a firm focused on researching and broking investments including Business Expansion Schemes (BES), from which the firm took its original name (BESt Investment).Following the abolition of BES, the company re-focused on the Personal Equity Plan market, attracting new clients predominantly through its high media profile in the national press, including the launch of its Spot the Dog report which named consistently poor investment funds.