The 20,000 or so of you who went to Posidonia will now be through your month on the wagon, having given your livers a well-earned rest. In spite of the recession, there was no shortage of entertainment this year. In a symbolic gesture, the Union of Greek Shipowners bash was called off but the Ferraris, Maseratis, glamorous dresses and glittering jewels were there in abundance.
There was also the usual round of swapping business cards in lifts and taxis; hats off to two MSc students from the Cass Business School for commitment and motivation whom we met in the back of a taxi (as you do). They had descended on Posidonia to network and find jobs – we will be doing all we can to help them!
Talking of taxis, a Spinnaker survey says that Greek taxi drivers earn more during Posidonia than the rest of the year put together, and if you want to know what the Greeks think about the Euro just ask a cabbie who will tell you that everything has trebled in price and that petrol is now even more expensive in Greece than in the UK at around €1.50 per litre (or around US$8.50 per gallon). Not a happy bunch – not now the shipping industry's gone home anyway.
Timing is everything of course, and the English courts were taking a beating during Posidonia over the Kookmin Bank Court of Appeal decision. While opinions vary about the impact of the decision on the vexed issue of shipbuilding refund guarantees, it was the third appeal judge's comments – of which more below – which got everyone going.
