Georgina Noakes lunches with Peter Jones and gets some tips on life

PETER Jones is seated in the downstairs bar at that bastion of British tradition, Simpson's in the Strand. I made sure I haven't eaten breakfast. The archetypal Englishman abroad, Peter is on time and immaculately turned out. A bloody Mary is ordered from his old friend at the bar.

Peter's mother, from Tottenham, North London, met his father, a Yorkshire man (this confirms we will get on fine), at a police dance. His father instilled into Peter the value of manners and standards that have provided the moral compass to his own life. "If I had my life over again, I would live it in exactly the same way," says a man who this year celebrated his fortieth year in shipping and was elected chairman of EPIC (European P&I Correspondents).

Peter Jones left school at fifteen to join the West of England as one of four messenger boys. Within a few months he had persuaded the managers to let him train as a claims adjuster. "My first pay slip was for ,10.17s. 6d," Peter laughs, and his face lights up like Father Christmas. By the age of twenty-one he was resolving third party disputes under marine contract. "I was, and remain, ambitious and in a hurry to get on," Peter says.

We are ushered reverently into the mahogany panelled dining room to a corner table waiting with starched white napkins. The ghosts of the great and good join us.

If Peter has any regrets, it may be that he left school too early to realise whether he had the academic ability to pursue a career in medicine or in the law. But Peter's contagious love of people, his negotiation skills, and a "fastidious attention to detail" have been put to good use in Greece for the last twenty-two years.

Shipserve International, based in Piraeus, was set up as a marine claims consultancy in 1978. It now employs ten people and provides advice to shipowners, their underwriters and legal advisers. Over the years, Peter has become well-known as a shipping intermediary and, although he dislikes the title, is a Mr Fix-it of the maritime world.

"Be calm and patient, you'll get what you want," he says surely about negotiation skills. "You have to be aware of the problems," he continues, "and of the terrain in which you are walking - this is to do with industry knowledge, of sitting down and understanding the politics of the country you are in and what the people pride themselves in. You must never treat people like fools - everybody is there for a settlement".

Yes, even the Greeks, "who will negotiate right up to the point where the bullet is about to enter their brain," Peter smiles. This he has come to understand well after adopting their country. "All my children were born in Piraeus," he confirms.

"I love my job," announces Peter as he orders his favourite from the menu - saddle of lamb with bubble and squeak. I join him in the same. "Living in Greece has taught me patience and the art of bluff. Problems are solved with common sense. Provided you've got the facts - the law will take care of itself.

"I have a great bunch of people at Shipserve. You have to create a happy environment where people want to come to work. And you have to be willing to share the spoils, to reward people for what they do. The success of any business hinges on team effort." Peter relishes the lamb, which arrives perfectly pink. But in case I am tempted to take him too seriously he says simply with a wry smile, "I run a modest, amusing business. Your business life can never take control of you, otherwise you will be trapped." He has a reputation for being commercially hard but beneath that toughness are reservoirs of compassion Born with a congenital heart disease, Peter is a trustee of the Guch (grown up heart disease) Trust. He believes in giving back to life, "you must never sit back and say, 'I have a problem that will impede my life'." Major heart surgery in the 1960s gave Peter a huge respect for the medical profession as well as confirming that there are more important things in life than just pursuing a career.

Over coffee, and drawing upon the wisdom of the last 40 years (not to mention an excellent bottle of claret) I ask Peter what advice he has to give the new IT generation. "IT will never replace face-to-face communication skills," he answers. But replete after an excellent lunch in his favourite London haunt, he concludes that there are three important things to remember in life. "The courage to say what you feel and believe, humility, and the ability to understand the other person's point of view."

"Hey - it's a big Muppet show out there!" Peter exclaims as we walk into the warm sunshine of the Strand.