Private Project

Gypsy Billionaire

Born in a caravan to a dirt-poor Romany Gypsy family, Alfie Best’s first sight of the world was a snow-covered layby just outside Leicester. Despite a childhood spent being a victim of racism, working with his dad tarmacking driveways at eight, and leaving school at 12, Alfie is now the richest Gypsy on the planet.
At 14, he started his first business, consciously turning the scrap of his youth into metal for his future. By 1989, he was investing in property, earning £200,000 a year, and driving a brand-new Porsche. When the recession gutted his business, he lost everything. But boxing as a child had taught him to get straight back up when you get knocked down—even if you are living in the back of an Escort van.
Alfie might not be an academic, but he is a visionary. During the 90s, he predicted the importance of the connected future, investing in mobile phones and opening 18 stores across the country in 18 months. The following decade, he started investing in affordable housing, having accumulated a personal wealth of £5 Million. Twenty years later, he owns Europe’s largest affordable housing solution, valued at over one billion pounds.
Gypsy Billionaire is the story of how a man who should have failed became the most successful Gypsy in history whilst helping to solve the biggest crisis of our times.

  • Joel Van der Molen
    Director
    What the Fact
  • Joel Van der Molen
    Producer
    What the Fact
  • Joel Van der Molen
    Editor
    What the Fact
  • Alfie Best
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Undercover Big Bosses, My Big Fat Gypsy Fortune, The Really, really rich with Kathy Burke, Spending Secrets with Anne Robinson
  • Claire Sweeney
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Coronation Street, Brookside,
  • Terry Stone
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    Rise of the Footsoldier
  • Joel Van der Molen
    Key Cast
    "Self"
    What the Fact
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    56 minutes 25 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 6, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    250,000 GBP
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital, 4K UHD, 10 bit
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Joel Van der Molen

Winner of 31 Global Film Awards, Joel grew up in Southeast England, was a young British tennis hopeful, and studied acting at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Through his filmmaking passion, he loves creatively telling stories to inspire others.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I was immediately captivated by Alfie’s inspirational life and business story. It is an untold Great British success story and pertinent for our time.
Roma, Gypsy, and Traveller people in Britain face more barriers and discrimination than any other community. Even in 2023, Britain is still a racially unjust society. According to figures from the Evidence for Equality National Survey (EVENS), this community often experiences racist insults, property damage, physical attacks, job insecurity, and poor health.
Over the 18 months we spent filming around the UK, I have come to understand the essence of Alfie’s business empire. He is at the forefront of a housing revolution, answers the social housing problem, and provides the opportunity for people to live in luxury homes, free up capital, and beat the cost-of-living crisis.
Alfie shares how he started his business, lost everything, and built it back stronger to become the world’s first Gypsy Billionaire.