It all started one early morning staggering along a beach in Egypt.

According to Freek, I agreed to back his dream of building a beach bar after a few too many. Now, whilst I’ve got no recollection of whether that actually did or did not happen, he still held me to our agreement the next day. Turns out, it was probably the only decent decision I’ve ever made on the booze!

I’m Paul, CEO and Co-Founder of Solutions Group. Two decades ago, on the shores of Egypt, Freek and I started with nothing more than a vision to create epic moments for people in Papa’s, our first little beach bar. Before we knew it, we’d built 19 venues across Hurghada, cementing it as the go-to party spot in the region.

Until the Arab Spring came, and we lost it all.

Picking up our families and leaving Egypt for Dubai in 2011, we thought everything was over. But it was just the beginning. Amidst the glitz and glam of clubs and flashy restaurants, we noticed a gap – people wanted to have the time of their lives any time, any day of the week.

We set out to build a dream, and here we all are, still going strong – creating the moments people live for.