A former surgeon who hung up his scalpel to become an entrepreneur is set to launch the latest incarnation of Chinawhite nightclub.
Hootan Ahmadi gave up full-time medicine in 2011 after being told he would have to move to Sheffield and away from his family in London to continue his training. Mr Ahmadi, 34, from Fulham has since started his own sports management firm, a recruitment company for locum doctors and a children’s charity.
But his next project will see him take over the running of Chinawhite, the Fitzrovia nightspot popular with celebrities including Kate Moss, Lily Allen and P Diddy.
Mr Ahmadi, who was born in Colchester but spent several years living in Iran, has teamed up with Chinawhite director James Spallone to re-launch the club this month as Libertine.
He said: “Nightclubs tap into that frisson of excitement that comes with meeting new people. I want Libertine to feel like a house party.”
Mr Ahmadi had completed two years of his surgical registrar training when he was placed at a hospital in Sheffield. He tried unsuccessfully to move the placement to London.
He said: “I have still got my qualification and could still assist on things. It is not like I have detached myself completely, I still want to be in and around it.”
