Andrew Mavroudis, a “Great Yarmouth legend” known widely throughout the nightclub and hospitality industry, passed away on Wednesday November 25 from a heart attack at the age of just 49.

His elder brother and business partner Chris Mavroudis said: “My brother, known as Mav or ‘Mavvy’, was just a year younger than me, and we grew up like twins.

“He was diagnosed with a brain tumour a year ago, but it was the heart attack which killed him. He was pumped so full of steroids for his chemotherapy his body just couldn’t cope anymore.” His older sister, Katerina Couma, said: “Andrew was diagnosed with brain cancer on November 26, 2019, so it was almost a year to the day that he died.

“It was his decision not to tell anyone that he was suffering from stage four cancer to protect us. We lost our mum on April 10 this year, and he didn’t want to cause any more heartbreak for our dad. He was always thinking about everyone else and never himself.”

Mr Mavroudis said: “When Andrew told us he had cancer in August, I was angry at him because he took away our ability to help him.

Andrew had three older siblings – Jenny, Katerina and Chris – and while all were born in Great Yarmouth, his parents Loizos and Despina were originally from Cyprus, from Leonarisso and Eftakomi respectively that came to Great Yarmouth in the UK in 1964 when they took over the Horseshoe Café on St Peter’s Road.Throughout his life, Andrew and his brother ran various restaurants and nightclubs around town, such as Mission Bar, the Rock Bar, Caesars and The Bloater King.

Mrs Couma said: “He lived life to its fullest, and loved absolutely everybody. I can’t express how much we will miss him.”

His brother added: “You could have called him ‘Mr Great Yarmouth’. He knew everyone, and he treated them all the same. It didn’t matter who you were, or where you came from.

Great Yarmouth Mercury