Nightclub owner enjoying life at top of the pyramid

BUSINESSWOMAN Georgina Parsons is living her dream of being a nightclub owner at the tender age of 26.

Georgina, of Lake View Drive, Orpington, is co-owner of the highly-successful Club MDM the Millennium Dance Movement with her boyfriend, Lee Ward.

At 18 Georgina started working in Ibiza and built up contacts and experience.

This included becoming PR manager for BBC Radio 1's Dave Pearce at Eden Nightclub.

After meeting an Egyptian club promoter in Ibiza the couple visited Sharm for New Year 2000 and fell in love with the place.

Georgina said: "It was beautiful. We felt it had a lot of potential for people who had done the Ibiza thing and wanted to go somewhere new which had class, adventure and night life."

All started well. In February last year they rented the Mexican Bar in the Namma Bay Hotel and soon became famous for their popular house music and r'n'b.

A Sharm magazine reported: "If you want to rub shoulders with the in crowd, then the MDM Mexican Bar is the place to be."

"It has taken a year for people to realise I am not one of the Russian dancers."

In August the trouble began. The couple found the locks had been changed overnight and all their belongings, including music and the contents of the safe, were stolen.

As a finishing touch, a report had been made to the police saying they did not exist.

Georgina said: "They thought they could run the club without us and earn more money, we would disappear back to rainy England and pick some money off the trees. But we didn't."

The time had come for the couple to set up their own venue and last December they established Club MDM at their own venue.

Georgina added: "We opened a huge club directly opposite them, stole all their business and took them to high heaven in the courts."

They are now awaiting compensation from the Namma Bay Hotel.

Their new venue opens every night of the week and attracts both European and Arabic clients.

Their resident Egyptian DJ Sam plays music from pop and r'n'b, to funk and Latino house.

Now all they need is a British chef to set up a terrace restaurant, which will be the first British eating place in Sharm.

Georgina has Mr John's living cafe all planned out, from the Starbucks-style coffees, fresh juices and shakes to the chilled-out setting it offers.

But she and Lee have learned to be careful about who they employ.

A friend employed as general manager turned on them and now they are involved in a court case against him and a warrant has been issued for his arrest.

Georgina said: "He tried to get us kicked out of the country by making false contracts with other companies who then made police reports against us."

Lee, 29, who is from Beckenham, spent a night in prison as a result of this.

Georgina said: "It took a lot for us to re-build our reputation.

"It has taken us a good year for the police to see us in a different light.

"They now support us but the corruption still goes on. Money talks here."

Being blonde and beautiful would generally be seen as an advantage but for Georgina it has only made life more difficult.

She said: "I chose Egypt, which was a huge challenge in terms of the language, business culture and mentality. Not to mention I am blonde.

"It has taken a year for people to realise I am not one of the Russian dancers.

"They are shocked when they find out I am the owner. It is definitely a man's world here."

The war on Iraq was a harsh blow to tourism in Sharm el Sheikh, which is also the centre of the Arab-Israeli peace process and where all the presidents meet to talk.

But although business at Club MDM did drop dramatically the couple made it through and tourism picked up again, even with the current problems in Iraq.

And with an international airport being built for 2005 enabling three times as many planes to Sharm, and daily flights directly from London, things can only get better.