Norwich man proves persistence pays off, after he opens his first nightclub in Prince of Wales Road

After running several nightclubs across the country, Andy Gotts has finally got to open one of his own in his home city.

Mr Gotts, 34, opened bar/nightclub Fluke in the heart of Norwich's clubland, Prince of Wales Road, at the end of last month.

The property was formerly Spencers and has also been known as Apollo wine bar and Bank NR1, but it had been closed since last October.

Mr Gotts, the new leaseholder, brought his team in to renovate the property and set a goal of completing a total strip-out and redecoration in five weeks, which they only missed by one day.

He has previously managed several nightclubs in Norwich and also worked for Luminar Leisure around the country in Leicester, Northampton, Wellingborough, Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Cambridge and Ipswich.

When he returned to Norwich in 2009, he worked as one of Steve Peri's managers at Mercy, Rocco's, Pulse and Lace, all in Prince of Wales Road.

He said: 'I hope what I have achieved shows that you can do anything if you put your mind to it, and you don't necessarily need qualifications.

'After running many nightclubs in Norwich and elsewhere, I wanted to take the next step in my career, after I learnt that I was going to be a father later this year.

'But the sheer scale of the works required at the property was immense, as the venue in its old form was extremely tired and in need of serious renovation and, more importantly, modernisation.

'The relevance of the venue name 'Fluke' was born out of the comments and remarks made before starting, that if we made the five-week deadline, it would be a miracle or a fluke.'

Fluke is open five nights a week on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, with a different DJ and experience every night.

Have you returned to Norwich to further your career? Email reporter David Bale at david.bale2@archant.co.uk