Inside Britain’s richest gypsy Alfie Best’s childhood in caravan on lay-by – worlds away from £6m mansion & supercars
BRITAIN’S richest gypsy, Alfie Best, has revealed what life was like during his childhood while living in a caravan on a lay-by.
The caravan park owner and property magnate has a net worth of £700 million, lives in a £6 million mansion and owns a fleet of supercars despite his humble beginnings.
The self-made entrepreneur made his first business deal at 11 and was worth £5 million by the time he was 30, but faced financial trouble, divorce and hardship along the way.
He told The Times: “I was born in a caravan on the side of a road just outside Leicester. My family are Gypsies and we spent a lot of time travelling.
“I’ve got pictures of me as a kid, playing next to the caravan in the lay-by of a dual carriageway. Not really the safest place for children, but I loved my childhood.
“OK, Dad used to give me a clump round the ear every now and then. Same as all the dads did. That’s life.”
Alfie lived in that very same caravan for the first 15 years of his life and remains proud of his Romany heritage.
From the age of eight he worked with his dad, also named Alfie, going door to door offering to tarmac homeowners’ driveways.
He joked: “Why do gypsies talk so fast? Well, how would you talk if somebody was slamming the door in your face! I had 30 seconds. That taught me a lot about being a good salesman.”
The young Alfie was so persuasive, he laid the tarmac on the mile-long drive leading to the stately home of a member of the Hambro banking family when he was just 13.
He revealed that his first solo business venture was buying and selling an Escort van, raking in a £150 profit.
From then he was hooked on life as a businessman and managed to buy his first house for £63,000 aged just 17, while also starting up a business selling vans in East London.
However, the recession of the early 1990s nearly sank his prospects.
Alfie recalled: “I’d borrowed too much. I had a £125,000 mortgage on the van site and a £250,000 to £300,000 mortgage on the house. Mortgage rates were eight per cent.
“I went bankrupt at 20, lost everything and ended up getting divorced.”
He married his second wife Emily Jane in 1993 and welcomed their daughter Elizabeth that year, before their son Alfie Jr came along a few years later.
On life as a father, he added: “Was I tough on my children? Yes, they got a clump same as I did. That wasn’t easy for me. The easy route would have been me being a laid-back father who gave them everything they wanted.
“But if you, as a parent, are not firm with your children, there are lots of other people out there who will be. It’s a cruel world and I wanted my kids to be prepared for every eventuality.
“Children are what they see. I wanted my kids to see me going to work every morning. They’re both making their own way in the world, and Alfie Jr runs his own mobile home park, so I reckon I set them on the right path.
“Forget all the money…that’s what I would consider my greatest success.”
For his part, Alfie Jr said he always wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and run his own business.
He even boldly stated his aim to be richer than his old man when all’s said and done.
The young up-and-comer is active on social media and is often snapped with luxury items and expensive cars.
Discussing life as a businessman in the internet age, his dad said: “The way Alfie Jr shows the world he’s working hard is via social media — very different to my day.
“People ask me if I think he’s being a bit lairy with all those photos of cars and watches. Not at all. No one should be ashamed if they’ve worked hard and made money.
“I’m not a fan of social media, but it has changed things. Yes, a lot of it is b*******, but it allows people to dream.”