1 week ago
.png)
Britain's richest gypsy Alfie Best rubbed shoulders with celebrities during a lavish party to celebrate his 54th birthday.
Dame Shirley Bassey was among the guests at the party in Monaco to celebrate the caravan park tycoon's 54th birthday following his emigration to the millionaire's tax shelter playground.
A beaming Best can be seen in one photo posted on X, formerly Twitter, with his arm draped around the national treasure at the swanky soiree.
He joked how he had hoped Dame Shirley was going to serenade him with her 1964 hit song for the James Bond film Goldfinger.
They sat around an elaborately decorated 18-seat table and were handed goodie bags full of luxury gifts including perfume and hair combs.
Britain's richest gypsy Alfie Best rubbed shoulders with celebrities during a lavish party to celebrate his 54th birthday
A beaming Best can be seen in one photo posted on X, formerly Twitter , with his armed draped around national treasure Dame Shirley Bassey at the swanky soiree
(Best pictured on board on his yacht) The caravan park tycoon said a party had been put on for him at the yacht club
He 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.'
Best had celebrated with his family before he moved to Monte Carlo with a trip to the Royal Albert Hall to see the Gypsy Kings.
Last week, Best - whose fortune is near the £700million mark - exclusively told MailOnline he had no intention of moving back to the UK.
'It is true I will not pay any income tax….I am going to start a business here and have no intention of returning to the UK.'
Best - who is quick to point out that he will still be paying corporation tax on all his UK businesses despite his personal change of circumstances - says he was more motivated to leave the country by the state of what he calls 'Broken Britain'.
And he also blames a hostile environment to entrepreneurs like himself for which he blames politicians.
In a fascinating and revealing extended interview, his first since his move, the 54 year old flitted between delight at his new environment and his plans for the future and fury at what he sees as the failure of the UK.
He told us: 'Yes, it's true I will not be paying personal income tax by living on Monaco but all my companies are still in the UK so they will be paying tax.
Britain's richest gypsy - whose fortune is actually somewhere near the £700m mark than the figure used in his popular nickname - has emigrated to the millionaires' tax shelter playground of Monaco
The 54 year old says he was more motivated to leave the country by the state of what he calls 'Broken Britain'
As someone who has enjoyed the spoils of fabulous wealth, from a personal helicopter with the registration G-PSYE to a fleet of luxury cars, Best knows he will fit in perfectly well among the rich and famous who call Monaco their home
'I have always paid my fair share of tax and will continue to do so. The only difference being here in Monaco is that I do not pay personal income tax. So when I get dividends from my companies there will be no income tax to pay.
'It is no longer Great Britain but Broken Britain. If you are a successful businessman, you are punished by the taxman and I have had enough of that. I have been chased for seven years and have had enough of that.
'There must be a reason all our successful entrepreneurs have left to take their companies overseas. Sir James Dyson and Sir James Radcliffe have all left to set up business overseas. I'm not the first and will not be the last.'
Over half the 38,000 residents in the principality overseen by Prince Albert can claim to be millionaires, but few if any have a rags to riches story as incredible as Best's.
Born into a gypsy Romany family in a caravan at the side of the road he left school at the age of 12 and his first job was helping his father sell tarmac door-to door.
At the age of 17 he became a car dealer before opening a chain of mobile phone shops which he later sold for a large profit.
It was the springboard to set up Wyldecrest Parks and he established his first mobile home park in Essex at the age of 30.
In just over two decades he has built an empire of more than 100 mobile home sites from Scotland to Cornwall with 16,000 residents and a staff of 400.
Annual profits are £70m a year and the success catapulted him into the Sunday Times rich list as one of Britain's most successful businessman.
The father of two also has an extensive property portfolio, including ten villas in Barbados that are rented out to tourists and a Hertfordshire golf course.
Mr Best, pictured as a child with his parents, was born into poverty in a Leicester caravan
Over half the 38,000 residents in the principality overseen by Prince Albert can claim to be millionaires, but few if any have a rags to riches story as incredible as Best's
Mr Best with his £1.5million Bugatti Veron outside of his Surrey Mansion. He was born into a gypsy Romany family in a caravan at the side of the road, he left school at the age of 12 and his first job was helping his father sell tarmac door-to door
He has been house hunting and looked at homes that have a £25m price tag. Most flats in and around Monte Carlo sell for eight figure sums
His back story has led to appearance on 'Undercover Boss' and a documentary on Amazon called 'Gypsy Billionaire' and charting his success.
While he has quit the UK, he has retained his £7m mansion in Surrey where his wife Emily-Jane lives.
She will later join him in Monaco as they embark on a new life that has seen Best start to learn French and plot to expand his mobile home empire into France as well as the US.
Having left with a few personal belongings piled into the back of his Range Rover Best is renting a two-bedroom flat until his residency is approved.
He has been house hunting and looked at homes that have a £25m price tag. Most flats in and around Monte Carlo sell for eight figure sums.
Before arriving in Monaco he had to show he had £500,000 cash in the bank and other assets so that the authorities were satisfied he had the means to live in the tiny principality where a host of celebrities and sports stars from racing driver Lewis Hamilton and singer Bono call home.
