Clyde & Co opens Greek office

Clyde & Co has become the latest UK firm to open for business in the Greek port of Piraeus.

Martin Hall, the partner who has been sent to the city to set up the operation, said the office was needed to serve Greek clients, many of whom had moved operations from London back to Piraeus, as a result of improved communications and infrastructure in Greece.

"Piraeus has become much more important than it was before," he added.

Its importance is reflected in the number of UK firms that have been established there.

Most of the best-known shipping practices in the City are now represented in Piraeus, with Richards Butler and Stephenson Harwood the most recent arrivals.

Clyde & Co was noticeable by its absence, and Hall said that the time had come for the firm to take action, or risk losing market share to rivals.

The office will support the Greek department of the firm's London shipping practice, which is made up of five English solicitors, a Greek qualified lawyer and a master mariner.

Hall said that the firm was likely to send an associate to assist him in Piraeus later this year.