Looking out over the sparkling harbour of Monte Carlo, where his £10m superyacht will soon be moored, as he browses apartments in the £20-25m bracket to find a place to park his £500,000 Rolls Royce Spectre, ‘billionaire gypsy’ Alfie Best can’t help breaking into song.
And soon passing tourists wandering the waterfront are looking round bemused at his cheesy rendition of the Dean Martin hit ‘That’s Amore’.
The reason for his good mood? Best – who was born in a caravan – has just revealed he will never pay UK income tax again as long as he lives, potentially saving himself millions of pounds.
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 millionaire’s tax shelter playground of Monaco in a huge blow to HMRC and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
In an exclusive interview with MailOnline to mark his departure from Britain, Best told us: ‘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.’
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 millionaire’s tax shelter playground of Monaco in a huge blow to HMRC and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt
Self-made millionaire Alfie Best at Wyldecrest Parks in Essex with his Rolls Royce. He moved from Britain because ‘it is no longer Great Britain but Broken Britain’
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.
‘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.’
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.
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
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
Mr Best, pictured as a child with his parents, was born into poverty in a Leicester caravan
The delivery of a £500,000 Rolls Royce Spectre car in the summer will certainly make him feel more at home among the endless Ferrari’s and Bentleys cruising around the narrow, twisting roads of Monte Carlo that next month hosts the F1 Grand Prix.
Over half the 38,000 residents in the principality overseen by Prince Albert can claim to be a 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.
Over half the 38,000 residents in the principality overseen by Prince Albert can claim to be a 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
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
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.
Like Best they were all attracted by the zero-income tax but the warm weather, stunning sea views from the cluster of high-rise flats overlooking the port and relaxed way of life with the Cote D’Azur a short drive away were also factors.
Best said his decision to leave was not a ‘knee jerk’ reaction with a Labour Government almost certain to take power at the forthcoming election.
Living in Monaco will put Best out of the reach of the taxman and after just three weeks here he says he already feels at home and is as relaxed as he has ever been
Best and his £1.5million Bugatti Veron outside of his surrey mansion. He was attracted to Monaco because of the zero-income tax and the warm weather
Best was scathing of Rishi Sunak who he had such faith in when he was elected Prime Minister but no longer believes has the interests of wealth creators at heart
He has a prime seat for next month’s Grand Prix and recently dined with singer Shirley Bassey (as pictured above), one of a number of celebrities who enjoy the glitzy, glamourous lifestyle that goes with being a resident
They have vowed to tax non domicile residents – known as non-doms – but rather it was a suggestion by the Conversative Government to make them pay tax on their earnings in the UK that so upset Best.
He viewed the proposal as a negative step that will deter people from starting businesses in the UK.
In the last two years he had become increasingly unhappy with the direction the country was taking and the lack of support for businessmen. The clamp down on non doms he says was the final straw that made his mind up to leave.
Best was scathing of Rishi Sunak who he had such faith in when he was elected Prime Minister but no longer believes has the interests of wealth creators at heart.
‘When Rishi became Prime Minister, I thought it would be like the second coming of Christ. Here was a man who understood all about the entrepreneur spirit and to help drive business forward in the UK,’he said.
‘What did he do? He got criticised because his wife’s a billionaire and the next thing he did was to say in the next two years we will tax the non doms.
‘What a lunatic says that as all they will do is take their experience and wealth and leave the country – that’s exactly what I have done.
‘I just don’t know why he is doing that. It is just stifling the entrepreneur spirit that made Britain so great.’
Best said the taxman uses the super-rich as a ‘money tree’ and is angry at the way they have hounded him and others over the years
Living in Monaco will put Best out of the reach of the taxman and after just three weeks here he says he already feels at home and is as relaxed as he has ever been
Best added: ‘I want the Government to back business. Love or hate Mrs Thatcher she backed business, and she made business thrive again. Tony Blair did a great job backing business.
‘Business creates jobs and wealth and that is something that seems to have been forgotten back in Britain.
‘Lots of entrepreneurs have left the UK but look at America and they all still live there. You have to ask why that is, and I believe it is because they are not treated the same as we are in the UK. They are encouraged and treated fairly.’
Best said the taxman uses the super-rich as a ‘money tree’ and is angry at the way they have hounded him and others over the years.
‘I have had 42 tax inquiries in the last seven years, and they have found nothing,’ he said.
‘But the files are never closed, and they keep coming back. I have had enough of it, and with other reasons why I have decided to quit.
‘I am all for a fair tax system, but HMRC are not being fair, and they go after people like me and shake them like a money tree.’
Living in Monaco will put Best out of the reach of the taxman and after just three weeks here he says he already feels at home and is as relaxed as he has ever been.
He has a prime seat for next month’s Grand Prix and recently dined with singer Shirley Bassey, one of a number of celebrities who enjoy the glitzy, glamourous lifestyle that goes with being a resident.
While admiring the multi-million-pound yachts in the port he spontaneously breaks into a rendition of the Dean Martin hit ‘That’s Amore’ drawing amused looks from tourists walking past.
While admiring the multi-million-pound yachts in the port he spontaneously breaks into a rendition of the Dean Martin hit ‘That’s Amore’ drawing amused looks from tourists walking past
His back story has led to appearance on ‘Undercover Boss’ (pictured) and a documentary on Amazon called ‘Gypsy Billionaire’ and charting his success
‘I’ve been here a few weeks and it is as if the fog and clouds have just lifted,’ he said.
‘I just feel so much better. I’m out walking every day and have lost five kilos.
‘It’s not just the lovely weather here that is so nice, but I feel there are opportunities here for an entrepreneur that no longer exist in the UK.
‘I am going to start a business here and have no intention of returning the to the UK.
‘I am sad to say that, but I will not be the first entrepreneur who leaves.
‘Since coming here, I have had two calls from other very wealthy businessmen who are interested to see what it is like and what opportunities there are.
‘It is true I will not pay any income tax, but when I start my companies here I will pay corporation tax.
‘I am not afraid to pay tax and have always paid my fare share. If there is tax to pay I will gladly pay it but now when I get my dividends from the companies I will not be paying tax on them.
In preparation for his move away he had a ‘fire sale’ of his luxury car collection with a 300mph Bugatti Chiron and 250mph Veyron selling for over £3m.
A Porsche, Bentley, a Rolls-Royce convertible, and two Mercedes G Wagons were also off loaded.
The £4.5million seven-seater Airbus ACH130 helicopter, styled by sports car makers Aston Martin, which boasts the production number 007 and registration G-YPSE on the fuselage, was also sold.
‘I didn’t mind selling then all as they were just bought as investments. I don’t feel bad that they have gone as I made a profit on them.’
While many of the trappings of his millionaire lifestyle in the UK have disappeared, he has still retained his £10m yacht called Wyldecrest.
While Best says he has left the UK for good he will be making a flying visit in June to help launch his latest project which aims to connect like-minded individuals looking to forge ahead in business
While many of the trappings of his millionaire lifestyle in the UK have disappeared, he has still retained his £10m yacht called Wyldecrest – It is moored a few miles from Monaco
It is moored a few miles from Monaco along the coast at Cannes on the French Riviera but could soon be alongside some of the giant £75m yachts dominating the port.
While Best says he has left the UK for good he will be making a flying visit in June to help launch his latest project which aims to connect like-minded individuals looking to forge ahead in business.
Called ‘The Best Wealth Network’ he wants to use the connections he has made over the years to help pass on tips to budding entrepreneurs.
The launch events is being held at the Wyldecrest Sports Club in Corringham, Essex, with Best one of the key speakers.
‘I just want to bring together people together in a network where they can learn from the experience of others. I have been mentoring five others and just want to be able to pass on some of the knowledge that I have had from setting up my companies.
‘The event is a sell out and I am thrilled that so many people are interested. The next one will be in France as this is where I am now going to be starting a business.
‘I am looking forward to what lies ahead for me and have no regrets about moving to Monaco.’
