Club magnate Peter Stringfellow says his best clients are overworked, rich Americans who spend up to £50,000 a night

As I approached Angel's, one of the two gentleman's clubs owned by Peter Stringfellow in west London, I took a picture to use in this story. Passers-by teased me. One said to another: "Wahey, I wonder where he is going tonight?"

I was there to interview Stringfellow - a self-made multimillionaire son of a steel worker, who built a nightclub empire from modest beginnings in the 1960s, when he began renting a local church hall on Friday nights and using it as a music venue. After convincing The Beatles to play at his makeshift venue, Stringfellow's success sky-rocketed.

Slightly red in the face, I continued walking to the front door. It was locked. I looked for another entrance, but I couldn't find one. So I went back to the main door. Eventually, I was spotted by a receptionist, who greeted me kindly, brought me a glass of sparkling water, and showed me to a leopard-print throne where I waited as Stringfellow wrapped up a meeting.