By A. Tsimplakis
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An event held at the British ambassador’s residence in Athens this week aimed to convey the message that London, and especially its City commercial district, remains committed to catering and hosting Greek shipping interests no matter what type of Brexit emerges in the coming period.
To emphasize the point, a videotaped message by UK Minister of State for Transport Legislation and Maritime, John Hayes, was played at the event, while both the British ambassador to Greece, Kate Smith, and Maritime London chairman Lord Mountevans addressed roughly 100 Greek ship-owners executives.
The “key points” in the presentation were by the British side, as expected, acknowledged that Brexit poses major challenges, but that London will remain a major commercial hub and what’s billed as the biggest “one-stop-shop” for the services industry, worldwide.
One issue that wasn’t clarified, and which currently ranks as a major obstacle in EU-UK negotiations, is the residence and tax status of non-British EU nationals in the country.
Other speakers at the event included the chief executive of Maritime London, Doug Barrow, and Chartered Arbitrator Bruce Harris.
