Alfie Best Senior is the founder and chairman of the Wyldecrest Parks Group, one of the country’s largest privately owned residential and holiday park operators. Born in a caravan in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, to a Romany Gypsy family, he left school at 12 and started his first business at 14.

After his early vehicle trade collapsed in the 1990 recession, he took a job in a mobile phone store and within weeks he had opened his own store, and inside eighteen months was running a chain across London. He sold the business and moved into commercial property before buying his first mobile home park in 2001, the sector that would define his career.

Wyldecrest Parks has since grown to more than 120 parks across the United Kingdom, with the wider group valued in excess of one billion pounds. It remains privately held, having never taken outside investment, and carries debt of less than 10% of asset value. The group’s interests also span property in London and Barbados, golf and country clubs, hotels, Vaaroom Motorhome Hire, and Wyldecrest Events.

The subject of the award-winning documentary Gypsy Billionaire, Alfie is now based in Monaco, where he leads the group and works with established business leaders through the Best of the Best Monaco Retreat.

You started out at the age of 14 from humble beginnings and worked through several ventures before finding your place in residential parks. What did those early years teach you that still informs how you run the Wyldecrest Group today?

“Building a business from the ground up teaches you lessons that no classroom ever can. When I started, every pound mattered, so I learned very early the importance of saving, reinvesting and focusing on long-term growth rather than short-term rewards.

“Too often, as businesses become more successful, lifestyles grow alongside them. We took a different approach. Wyldecrest Parks was built on family values, hard work and patience, brick by brick, park by park. We never lost sight of the fundamentals.

“There are many different ways to build a business. Some people rely on spreadsheets and financial models, while my approach has always been driven by passion, determination and persistence. I may no longer run Wyldecrest Parks but those values built the company and they’re the same principles my daughter Elizabeth continues to lead the business with today.”

Wyldecrest Parks is the largest residential park operator in the country, and you have built it without ever selling to a fund or taking outside investment, keeping total debt below 10% of asset value. What strategic freedom does that structure give you that listed or fund-backed operators cannot match?

“Remaining privately owned gives us complete freedom to make decisions quickly and for the right reasons. We don’t have external investors or shareholders influencing every decision, so our priority has always been our residents and the long-term future of the business.

“We don’t claim to get everything right, but we work incredibly hard to get it right most of the time. Because we’re not driven by quarterly reporting or investor expectations, we can focus on delivering affordable, high-quality living while continually investing back into our parks.

“I believe our passion is what sets us apart. Residents recognise that we’re genuinely committed to improving communities and that commitment has been a major reason we’ve been able to grow into the UK’s largest residential park operator.”

Wyldecrest Events places UHNW clients at some of the most exclusive occasions in the world, arranging access that money alone rarely secures. At a level where clients can command almost anything, what sets the offering apart and what does it take to achieve a level of exclusivity that no-one else can?

“When I acquired a 50% stake in Wyldecrest Events around five years ago, I immediately recognised its potential. The business wasn’t simply selling access, it was creating genuinely exceptional experiences built on trust, relationships and flawless delivery.

“Over many years I’ve built relationships with business leaders, entrepreneurs and influential people across the world. Those trusted connections enable us to create opportunities that simply aren’t available through conventional channels.

“Equally important is the partnership I have with Mike Driscoll. We share an absolute commitment to quality. Every venue, every event and every experience is personally visited, tested and approved before it’s ever offered to a client. That attention to detail is what makes the difference.”

The Best of the Best Monaco Retreat brings serious business leaders and investors together in one of the most exclusive settings in the world. What makes this gathering different from the conferences and networking events aimed at high-level entrepreneurs?

“Most business events are built around speakers talking about what they’ve done. We wanted to create something very different—a room filled with people who are still actively building businesses today.

“Every mentor we’ve brought together is someone I’ve personally worked with and trust completely, whether they’re solicitors, accountants, tax advisers or entrepreneurs. They’re not theorists; they’re practitioners who continue to operate at the highest level.

“One of the biggest challenges in business is knowing who to turn to when you need genuine advice. The Best of the Best Monaco Retreat is designed to solve that by creating a trusted network of people who can help businesses grow with confidence.

“Monaco was the natural choice because it is one of the most pro-business jurisdictions in the world. Having met with government representatives there, it’s clear they genuinely welcome enterprise and innovation, making it the ideal setting for this retreat.”

The business leaders who attend the retreat are already successful in their own right. What do you want them to walk away with, and what can even seasoned entrepreneurs and professionals still gain in that environment?

“Success doesn’t mean you’ve stopped learning. No matter how experienced you become, fresh perspectives and honest conversations remain invaluable.

“What makes this environment unique is that everyone in the room is still striving to achieve more. It’s a community of ambitious people challenging one another, sharing practical experience and helping each other solve real business problems.

“If attendees leave with one new relationship, one new idea or one trusted adviser who helps transform their business over the coming years, then the retreat has achieved exactly what it set out to do.”

You have said your own story matters less than the lessons inside it. When you stand in front of the leaders at the retreat, what is the single idea you most want to pass on?

“Think bigger and do it earlier.

“If I have one regret, it’s that I didn’t think big enough soon enough. I only truly began thinking without limits in my thirties, whereas I wish I’d adopted that mindset as a teenager.

“When we bought our very first park, the sign already said “The UK’s No.1 Park Home Operator.” At the time it was simply an aspiration, but we chose to believe in it. Twenty-five years later, Wyldecrest Parks became the largest residential park operator in both the UK and Europe and the largest independent operator of its kind in the world.

“Sometimes success begins by believing in a vision long before anyone else does.”

You describe work ethic as a habit rather than a gift, and you take calculated challenges rather than risks. How do you hold that consistency across decades and across such different businesses?

“I’ve always believed that passion is the foundation of hard work. You simply cannot sustain 17- or 18-hour days unless you genuinely love what you’re building.

“Consistency also comes from always setting new goals. The moment you become complacent is the moment you stop growing.

“For me, discipline became a habit from a very young age. Habits shape your future far more than talent alone. If you make showing up every day, working hard and staying focused part of who you are, success becomes far more sustainable over the long term.”

Having built the group from a caravan in Leicestershire to a business valued above £1bn, where do you see the next opportunities, both for the sector and for your own ventures?

“I’m incredibly confident about the future of Wyldecrest Parks under Elizabeth’s leadership. She’s bringing her own vision while remaining true to the values that built the company.

“More broadly, I believe the UK has enormous entrepreneurial talent, but businesses today face increasing regulation and bureaucracy that can often make growth more difficult than it should be. I’d like to see greater recognition of the contribution successful businesses make to the economy and more encouragement for entrepreneurs to invest and expand.

“That outlook has also led me to look internationally. We’ve established businesses in Monaco because it’s a jurisdiction that actively embraces enterprise and innovation. We’re also exploring further investment opportunities in the United States and Barbados, continuing to build businesses in markets where ambition and growth are genuinely encouraged.”