THE UK’S richest gypsy Alfie Best has popped Champagne to celebrate his birthday with an “immense” party.
The caravan-park mogul, 54, was pictured surrounded by celebrity guests at the Monaco event.
Instagram / @alfie_best_snrAlfie Best’s birthday party saw him served a sparkler as guests applauded[/caption]
alfie bestAlfie Best rubbed shoulders with national treasure Dame Shirley Bassey[/caption]
Arthur Edwards / The SunAlfie, worth an estimated £745 million revealed last week he was leaving behind life in the UK for tax haven Monaco[/caption]
alfie bestThe elaborate set up Alfie was greeted with[/caption]
alfie bestThe host, who can’t be revealed, threw the Gypsy millionaire a lavish yacht party[/caption]
Invitees were greeted with an elaborately decorated 18-seater dining table, and luxury goodie bags filled with gifts including perfume and hair combs.
Alfie, who founded caravan park titan Wyldecrest Parks, exclusively told The Sun: “There was a party put on for me at the yacht club, it was a bit overwhelming.
“I consider myself just to be a nobody so for them to go out of their way and and put a party on for me, sometimes you’ve got to pinch yourself that these things are actually happening.”
I was hoping our lovely Dame Shirley Bassey was going to serenade me with Gold Finger. But unfortunately not. I didn’t get that, but she was absolutely wonderful
Alfie Best
Alfie, worth an estimated £745 million revealed last week he was leaving behind life in the UK for tax haven Monaco.
He added: “The welcome here has been immense, I can only thank the people of Monaco.”
The day before his party the businessman was thrown another lavish celebration, he revealed.
“Our wonderful icon from Britain, which is our lovely Dame Shirley Bassey was there.
“I was hoping she was going to serenade me with Gold Finger. But unfortunately not. I didn’t get that, but she was absolutely wonderful.
“She looks amazing. She was wonderful, charming and I can see why she’s a star.
“I got some wonderful cards, and some beautiful welcoming notes that that was about it. But to be fair with you the thought of somebody putting on the party. That they did that for me was a little bit overwhelming, genuinely overwhelming.
“There was some beautiful gift bags, and there was someone some pretty amazing chocolate, I’ve put a little bit of weight on since this.
“There were some nice gifts. There were some hair combs, some quite nice perfumes in there.”
The Gypsy billionaire also celebrated with his family before he moved out.
“We had a party before I left me and the family and we all went to see the Gypsy Kings by an invite from them at the Royal Albert Hall.
“We had a small after party with them which was pretty cool as well. So you could say that I’m partied out at the moment.”
On his new life in Monaco, he told how he’s “loving it” and can’t believe how many other Brits are there.
He added: “I wish I’d have done it 20 years ago. It’s amazing walking up and down the street here how many Brits there are, I genuinely mean you could think it was Little Britain.”
HUMBLE BEGINNING
Born to Romani gypsies in a caravan on the side of a road near Leicester, he started work before he was ten.
Now, aged 54, he’s living the high life in Monaco.
Alfie doesn’t have to pay personal income tax in the Riviera haven and now spends his days browsing £25 million flats, having left behind his £7 million Surrey mansion.
But he already misses the UK.
He said: “I do have some regret from leaving the UK especially with a county that has helped me build my success.
“But the problem is the UK is beating its entrepreneurs and business leaders out the front door.
“We’ve lost Jim Radcliffe, James Dyson, Alan Sugar, Richard Branson, the list goes on.
“I’ve decided to leave my businesses in the UK. And not change their management offices.
“Most of the other entrepreneurs have gone one bit one step further and not just leave the UK But they’ve also taken their business out of the UK.”
CAR COLLECTION
The move to the famous principality has also seen him forced to flog most of his luxury car collection.
A 300mph Bugatti Chiron and 250mph Veyron sold for over £3m, while a Porsche, Bentley, Rolls-Royce convertible and two Mercedes G Wagons were also jettisoned.
The £4.5million seven-seater Airbus ACH130 helicopter, which boasts the production number 007 and registration G-YPSE on the fuselage, was also sold.
But all is not lost.
The multi-millionaire says he’s now waiting for a £10 million yacht to be delivered and a a £500,000 Rolls Royce Spectre should be dropped off anytime soon.
The dad-of-two boasts a whopping property portfolio, including ten rental villas in Barbados, and a Herefordshire golf course.
He also owns homes in and around London worth a total of almost £30 million.
It’s all thanks to Wyldecrest Parks, which opened its first site in Essex 24 years ago.
It’s now ballooned to an empire of more than 100 mobile home sites from Scotland to Cornwall with 16,000 residents and a staff of 400.
Annual profits top £70 million.
Humble beginnings to gypsy billionaire
Alfie was born in a gypsy caravan on the side of the road near Leicester in a snowstorm.
He quit school in Broxbourne, Herts, age 12, because he had already been working for two years, hawking Tarmac door-to-door with his dad.
By the time he was 17 he became a car dealer after selling a Ford Escort for £1,100 before moving into vans and mobile phones.
Nearly 25 years ago, aged 30, he set up Wyldecrest Parks, buying his first 120-mobile home site near Romford, Essex, for £1.7million.
The company now has more than 16,000 residents at over 100 sites from Inverness to Lands End employing 400 people.
The company recently expanded into the USA where US tycoon Warren Buffett – the fifth richest person on the planet – is a rival park owner.
Alfie also owns Wyldecrest Events, which owns some of the most expensive hospitality boxes at venues in the UK, and he is launching Best Wealth Network for aspiring tycoons.
In May, the next edition of the Sunday Times Rich List is expected to record Alfie’s fortune at £947million. If he sold his company tomorrow he would get more than a billion for it.
His wife Emily-Jane, son Alfie Jnr and daughter Elizabeth, who sits on the company’s board, will continue to live in the UK when the tycoon moves to Monaco.
alfie bestThe elaborate table decor featured handwritten name cards[/caption]
alfie bestThe view from the celebration as the sun set over Monaco[/caption]
alfie bestAlfie pictured with guests at the event[/caption]
InstagramAlfie enjoying a dip in a hot tub[/caption]
InstagramAlfie on his yacht named after his caravan business, Wyldecrest[/caption]
Vandercom FilmsAlfie is Britain’s ‘richest Gypsy’[/caption]
Dan CharityAlfie leads a life of luxury[/caption]
News Group Newspapers LtdAlfie Best, who founded caravan park titan Wyldecrest Parks, is worth an estimated £745 million but has quit the UK[/caption]
Arthur Edwards / The SunHe said he’s sick of being ‘punished’ by the taxman for being a successful businessman[/caption]
TwitterAlfie was born to Romani gypsies in a caravan on the side of a road near Leicester, he started work before he was ten[/caption]
Alfie Best – suppliedThe dad-of-two boasts a whopping property portfolio, including ten rental villas in Barbados, and a Hertfordshire golf course[/caption]
TwitterAlfie doesn’t have to pay personal income tax in the Riviera haven and now spends his days browsing £25 million flats[/caption]