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CRASHING DOWN
I’m Britain’s richest gypsy but I nearly lost everything – I took drastic action to turn my life around, says Alfie Best
BRITAIN'S richest gypsy has opened up about the moment he was left sleeping in his van after fearing he'd lose everything.
Alfie Best, 53, has spent decades building his empire and is on track to be crowned the world's first gypsy billionaire.
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But he's revealed it hasn't all been smooth sailing while climbing his way to the top.
The dad-of-two had just started his first business when a recession hit, throwing his finances into chaos.
Speaking in a new film portraying his life called Gypsy Billionaire, which premiers this Friday, Alfie said: "I hadn't experienced dealing with a recession - it turned me from a millionaire to a virtual bankrupt."
It was the early 1990s and the young entrepreneur had recently opened his first business - a van hire centre and dealership in London's Forest Gate.
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Alfie explained: "I was in a horrible position called negative equity. I'd never heard of the phrases and these words.
"What it means is your house is worth less than you owe the bank. And I didn't realise it at the time but that was my saviour because it stopped the banks repossessing my property."
The 53-year-old said he quickly jumped into action to try to save what he owned - giving up a roof over his head for three months in the meantime.
Alfie explained: "What I did is I moved out the house, sold the car, sold every piece of stock I had off the pitch, put a mattress in the back of the Escort van, slept in the Escort van, rented the house out, went to the van pitch, broke it into small units, rented those out, and paid my mortgages."
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He said the pressure of it all even saw him rushed to hospital after he collapsed at work.
"In my office at Forest Gate, I never forgot it to this day, I've got hairs stand up every time I talk about it.
"But I had a murmur at 20 and I collapsed across the desk, the stress.
"Challenging times to say the least."
In the film, which is premiering at Cannes, Alfie's daughter Elizabeth opens up about how she left school at 11 - and is now following in her father's footsteps.
The 27-year-old is a park manager for Wlydecrest Parks - which is what Alfie started from scratch and made his millions from.
His jaw-dropping wealth comes from the residential park homes empire, which made £32million last year alone.
Earlier this year Sun reporter Jemma Carr was offered a peek into a normal day in Alfie's high-flying life.
She saw how he travels around the country on his personalised helicopter - designed by James Bond’s favourite car company, Aston Martin.
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