Alfie Best Explained

Alfie Best
Birth Name:Alfred William Best
Birth Place:Lutterworth, Leicestershire, England
Occupation:Businessman
Known For:Chairman & founder, Wyldecrest Parks
Television:BBC: Britain's Spending Secrets S1E1 (2015)[1]
Channel 5: Eamonn & Ruth: How The Other Half Lives (2016)
Panorama: The Mobile Home Swindle (2024)
Spouse:Rachel (divorced)
Emily Jane Bruce
Children:2

Alfred William Best (born 1970), is a British businessman who is the chairman and founder of Wyldecrest Parks, a mobile home park company.

Best's businesses in the UK include 95 residential mobile home parks, seven holiday mobile home parks and a golf course in Herefordshire, along with a 50% share in 15 sites in the US, totalling £700 million,[2] as well as a motor home rental company called Vaaroom[3] and East Thurrock United Football Club and its ground.[4]

In August 2021, Best appeared in the first episode of ITV's Undercover Big Boss.[5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Early life

Best was born in a caravan in Lutterworth, Leicestershire to a poor Romanichal Gypsy family.[10] He left school at the age of 12 and started his first business at 14 years old, buying and selling cars and vans.

Career

In 1990, aged 20, his car business almost collapsed so he got a job at a phone shop earning £70 a week. Three weeks later he started his own mobile phone shop then 18 months later with the help of a bank loan, he had thirteen stores in London. He later sold the business and moved to property investing.[11]

In 2001, he bought his first mobile home park in Romford, Essex, the Lakeview Residential Park.[12] He has since begun businesses in the hospitality, leisure, events, trading and finance industries. In 2018 he purchased a golf course in Herefordshire.[10]

In October 2011, Best accepted a police caution for an alleged physical assault on one of his residents at Scatterdells Park, Bovingdon. The resident was protesting alterations to the park. She later pressed charges, with police offering Best either a caution or go to court.[13]

In July 2015, he and his business Wyldecrest Parks were shortlisted for both Entrepreneur of the Year and Retail & Property categories at the 2015 London Loves Excellence awards.[14] Wyldecrest Parks won Retail & Property Business of the Year.[15] In November 2018 Best was voted the 48th most influential person in the 2018 Essex Power 100 list, and ranked at number 11 in Leicestershire's rich-list.[16] [17]

In 2019, Best featured in the Sunday Times UK rich list[18] and in 2020 he was #382 in the Sunday Times 2020 UK rich list with a net worth of £341 million, an increase of more than £100 million from last year.[19] He purchased East Thurrock United F.C. in June 2022, saying that "I believe that it [the football club] has the opportunity to be the lifeblood of the community".[20] The club folded in September 2023.[21]

Personal life

Best and his first wife Rachel had two children together, Alfie Jr and Elizabeth, but later divorced.[22]

In 2013, Best and his son Alfie Jr appeared on the Channel 4 television programme My Big Fat Gypsy Fortune.[23] In 2018 he played a small cameo in the British crime film Once Upon a Time in London.[24]

In July 2016, Best was left with a "deep cut" after an attack by his son-in-law with a machete. It was heard he had previously reported "ongoing domestic violence" against his daughter Elizabeth but decided not to make an official complaint, instead opting to settle the dispute with a bareknuckle match. His son-in-law received a 13-month prison sentence for the attack.[24]

In 2018, Best set up a charity called Wyldecrest Parks Charity, funding staffing and running costs himself.[25]

Between 2016 and 2018, Best donated a total of £10,000 to the Conservative Party through his Shelfside (Holdings) Limited firm.[26] [27] [28]

Best is now married to Emily Jane Bruce.[29] They live in a "mansion" in Surrey.[30]

He owns a 27-metre Sunseeker yacht Wyldecrest, as well as a private jet and a helicopter.[29]

Notes and References

  1. News: Anne Robinson BBC One Britains Spending Secrets. BBC. 5 January 2017.
  2. Web site: Delight as golf club saved from closure. Worcester News. en. 24 February 2019.
  3. News: Kelly . Liam . Hermione needs some magic in these markets . . 8 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200705224211/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hermione-needs-some-magic-in-these-markets-s3tqh9cpr . 5 July 2020 . The News Building, London . en . 21 June 2020.
  4. Web site: "We are hoping to build the club to bigger and better things" - new owner Alfie Best's promise to East Thurrock United . Thurrock Nub News . 1 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210901100634/https://thurrock.nub.news/n/34we-are-hoping-to-build-the-club-to-bigger-and-better-things34---new-owner-alfie-best39s-promise-to-east-thurrock-united . 1 September 2021 . en.
  5. Web site: Self-made millionaire gypsy from Leicester goes on ITV's Undercover Big Boss . . . 7 August 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210807004645/https://www.itv.com/news/central/2021-08-05/self-made-millionaire-gypsy-from-leicester-goes-on-itvs-undercover-big-boss . 7 August 2021 . . en . 5 August 2021.
  6. Web site: O'Sullivan . Kyle . Gypsy millionaire gives employee life-changing reward after undercover ordeal . . . 1 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210901095540/https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/gypsy-millionaire-alfie-best-gives-24695138 . 1 September 2021 . . en . 5 August 2021.
  7. Web site: Fletcher . Harry . Undercover Big Boss: Gypsy millionaire slams trolls abusing him for £6m house . . . 1 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210827180336/https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/05/undercover-big-boss-gypsy-millionaire-slams-trolls-abusing-him-for-6m-home-15044288/ . 27 August 2021 . . en . 5 August 2021.
  8. Web site: Self-made millionaire gypsy from Leicester goes on ITV's Undercover Big Boss . . . 1 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210901102150/https://www.itv.com/news/central/2021-08-05/self-made-millionaire-gypsy-from-leicester-goes-on-itvs-undercover-big-boss . 1 September 2021 . . en . 5 August 2021.
  9. Web site: Undercover Big Boss - Series 1 - Episode 1 . . . 1 September 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210901102809/https://www.itv.com/hub/undercover-big-boss/10a0682a0001 . 1 September 2021 . . en.
  10. News: Watts . Robert . Caravan king Alfie Best's empire hits £140m . . 2 November 2018 . en . 9 September 2018.
  11. News: Gipsy Alfie Best reveals how he made his first million in Ilford. 3 August 2015. Edwina. Ellington. Ilford Recorder.
  12. Web site: Interview with Alfie Best – The Reign of The Gypsy King | Mogul in the Making. 30 April 2018. mostmogul.com.
  13. Book: House of Commons . Communities and Local Government Committee . Park Homes: First report of session 2012–13. Vol. 2 . 20 June 2012 . . . 9780215045607 . 55–56 . https://books.google.com/books?id=WkHeN2YPxDkC&pg=PA55. en . Monday, 19 March 2012. House of Commons .
  14. Web site: Wyldecrest Parks bags prestigious London business award. Duggan. Joe. 19 October 2015. Olive Press News Spain. en-GB. 25 February 2019.
  15. Web site: Alfie Best, Chairman – Wyldecrest Team. https://web.archive.org/web/20150901212515/http://www.wyldecrestparks.co.uk/team/alfie-best/. 1 September 2015. wyldecrestparks.co.uk. 10 March 2019. dead. dmy-all.
  16. News: Watts . Robert . Best office ever: a beach in Barbados . The Times . 15 August 2023 . en.
  17. Web site: Alfie Best EXCLUSIVE: Wyldecrest Parks, future plans and a little word of advice!. Ldn-Post. 25 November 2018. London Post. en-GB. 24 February 2019.
  18. News: The Sunday Times Rich List 2020.
  19. News: Alfie Best net worth — Sunday Times Rich List 2023 . The Sunday Times . 15 August 2023 . en.
  20. News: ALFIE BEST ANNOUNCES PURCHASE OF FORMER PEGASUS SPORTS CLUB . 19 September 2023 . www.eastthurrockunited.co.uk . 23 June 2022 . en.
  21. News: Neighbours step in with offer to Rocks fans but angry words and bitter recriminations roll on over closure of club . 19 September 2023 . Thurrock Nub News . 3 September 2023 . en.
  22. News: Alfie Best interview: how I built my big fat gypsy empire . 19 April 2024 . The Times . 12 May 2019.
  23. Web site: Best's Media Appearances and Reach profile. alfiebest.co. 5 January 2017.
  24. Web site: Hardie. Beth. 23 September 2018. All you need to know about Absolutely Ascot star Alfie Best Jr. Daily Mirror. en. 2 November 2018.
  25. Web site: Gypsy multi-millionaire on why he wants to help Alder Hey. Bona. Emilia. 29 April 2018. liverpoolecho. 24 February 2019.
  26. Web site: Sommerlad . Nick . Millionaire Tory donor pushes US-style caravan parks to solve housing crisis . . . 14 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210714060902/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/millionaire-tory-donor-pushes-style-22629302 . 14 July 2021 . . en . 4 September 2020.
  27. Web site: Donation summary - Conservative and Unionist Party (Great Britain), Cash (C0256054) . . 14 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210714060626/http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Donations/C0256054 . 14 July 2021 . . en . 23 November 2016.
  28. Web site: Donation summary - Conservative and Unionist Party (Great Britain), Cash (C0399746) . . 14 July 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210714055831/http://search.electoralcommission.org.uk/English/Donations/C0399746 . 14 July 2021 . . en . 28 November 2018.
  29. Web site: Hogarth-Jones . Charlotte . On board Alfie Best's Sunseeker yacht Wyldecrest . Boat International . 19 April 2024.
  30. News: Cole-Lomas . Lauren . Inside a day in the life of Alfie Best: Surrey's billionaire Romany Gypsy who was born on the side of the road . 19 April 2024 . SurreyLive . 31 March 2024.