The Steeple Times

Tag: bust

  • Lockup Lunacy

    Lockup Lunacy

    Matthew Steeples condemns the government’s slapdash decision to lockup Britain (other than estate agents) once again as ludicrous

    The government’s brutal decision to lockup the British population once again will bankrupt yet more businesses and wreck many more lives and for no good reason.

     

    Whilst new cases and deaths have risen in recent weeks, the new strategy of, for example, bizarrely allowing potentially diseased estate agents to continue to tour multiple houses with their potentially diseased clients and potentially thus spread disease – probably as a result of the property industry being responsible for a quarter of all donations to the Tory party – yet closing virtually every other “non-essential” commercial operation is simply crackers.

     

    Here, in a country that will now allow takeaway food but has banned takeaway alcohol, previous lockup-lockdown’s have taken away our civil liberties but have not been proven to stop the spread of coronavirus. In response, what are this incompetent, inept rudderless government now doing? They’ve decided not to find another solution, but instead opted to just hit repeat.

     

    Now, at a time of year when many deaths are actually being caused by pneumonia yet this year are being pinned with “caused by coronavirus” to suit the government’s all over the bloody place strategy-less-strategy, Boris Johnson has finally gone too far with his one-rule for one sector and one-rule for the rest.

     

    Depression will soar in this dark lockup and businesses (other than estate agents) will go bust and before the end of it, where will we likely be? In a position no better than where we are now. Shame on ‘Bosie The Clown’ and shame on his puppet mistress ‘Carrie Not On Regardless’ and her controlling cronies.

     

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  • Elvis & Epstein’s ‘Dictator Car’

    Elvis & Epstein’s ‘Dictator Car’

    1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction

    ‘Taking Care of Business’ was said to be “Elvis Presley’s business motto and working philosophy.” Now, someone with deep pockets can buy the ‘King’s’ 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan emblazoned with ‘TCB’ on its side that is being auctioned for charity this December.

     

    Said to be one of over 200 cars that the Blue Suede Shoes, Hound Dog and Jailhouse Rock singer owned and mostly gave away as gifts, the short-wheelbase limousine was purchased by him on 14th December 1970 at Mercedes-Benz of Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard for $15,000 (or the equivalent of £75,300, $100,600, €82,900 or درهم369,500 today).

     

    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    Elvis and Priscilla Presley in the car.
    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    And pictured standing next to it.

    Presley reportedly used the 6.3-litre engine vehicle until the mid-1970s and then gave it to his vocalist friend Jimmy Velvet – who was later to become the operator of an Elvis memorabilia museum. Later sold on to the CEO of Dollar General and “refreshed” in the 1990s, a businessman turned philanthropist named Gene Epstein bought the ‘Dictator Car’ in 2002 after seeing it at the Amelia Island Concours.

     

    Finished in silver and featuring a black leather with dark grey carpets and ‘zebrawood accents’ interior, the automatic car has privacy curtains, separate front and rear heating and air conditioning controls and a refrigerated console between the front seats. It has covered 60,500 miles and is being promoted as being in need of a new owner “with a big enough personality to pull it off.”

     

    Of why he is selling the limousine – which comes with an array of Elvis Presley related memorabilia and paperwork – Gene Epstein (whom has no known connection to the late monster Jeffrey Epstein) commented:

     

    “We feel that after owning and enjoying ‘Elvis’ for nearly 20 years it is time to say goodbye for the better need. Especially since Covid has shut down just about every event that we have planned.”

     

    “Giving this car to our charity was a major decision that I’ve been advised against by my accountant who simply looks at the bottom line after taxes. I know that I exceed any tax benefit but how in the world can any of us enjoy life while seeing other people suffering?”

     

    “The lightning bolt on Elvis is TCB could very well have been on mine. There’s not enough time in the day to do the best for everybody every day but we have to keep trying.”

     

    “Elvis’s Mercedes is one hell of an automobile. And fun to drive… I hope it brings a world record price.”

     

    In September 2019, a 1966 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan The Steeple Times featured that had belonged to Nubar Gulbenkian sold for £310,900 ($415,000, €342,500 or درهم1.5 million). That car admittedly was undoubtedly a one-off in that its eccentric owner had changed the rear seats to a double bed and added a full glass roof, but by comparison the current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800) on the ex-Elvis ‘ride’ makes it seem cheap at a sum 48.4% lower.

     

    Bring A Trailer’s online auction for this It’s Now or Never of a limousine concludes on the 18th December.

     

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    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    The black leather to the rear passenger seating is original yet in good condition.
    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    There is some wear and tear to the front seating, however.
    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    The car is emblazoned with ‘TCB’ on its front doors and also comes with an example of Elvis Presley’s ‘TCB’ stationery and some shot glasses marked ‘TCB’ also.
    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    Amongst other memorabilia with the car are original documents, cuttings and an Elvis Presley bust.
    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    The original bill of sale from Mercedes-Benz of Hollywood.
    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    From the front.
    Elvis & Epstein’s Dictator Car – Ex-Elvis Presley Mercedes 600 to be sold – 1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 ‘Dictator Car’ sedan originally owned by Elvis Presley and currently by an Epstein is being sold by auction –1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan, chassis number 10001212001321, originally owned by Elvis Presley and gifted to Jimmy Velvet in the mid-1970s – To be sold by Bring A Trailer on Friday 18th December 2020 at 7.05pm – Current bid of £160,400 ($214,500, €177,000 or درهم787,800).
    And from the rear.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=rYCxTiEdvoc&feature=emb_logo
    A video of the car to be offered.
    The car to be sold arriving at Gene Epstein’s 75th birthday party in July 2014.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex0XUS6ppas
    Another Mercedes-Benz 600 sedan owned by Elvis Presley was sold by Bonhams in December 2010 in the UK.
    Elvis Presley originally recorded ‘Long Black Limousine’ in January 1969.

  • Greedy Green Goes Red

    Greedy Green Goes Red

    As ‘The Sun’ quite rightly rebrands Tina Green ‘Lady Greed,’ we join those demanding this creep cough up before Christmas; why should 13,000 families suffer whilst she sits smugly on a £100m yacht?

    Luxury loving Lady Green – who is known to pompously demand those she regards as serfs call her ‘Lady Tina’ – got herself a new moniker in the red-topped The Sun this morning.

     

    Deservedly rebranded ‘Lady Greed’ today, this twice married mother of four and all-round disgrace of a woman is actually worse than her hideous hulk of a husband, ‘Sir Shifty.’ She actually controls the purse strings of the now collapsed Arcadia Group as her very own company owns 92% of it and now it’s in the red, it is time this cash-tin-collecting cretin accepted some personal responsibility.

     

    As 13,000 poor employees and their families face Christmas and beyond in penury due to the mismanagement of ‘Tacky Tina’ and her husband, now is the time when this wicked wench could finally do the decent thing: Lady Green should sell one of her £100 million yachts and pull off a publicity coup by paying off those that her business failings will otherwise make suffer.

     

    Pictured top: The grubby Greens love living it up, quaffing champagne and used to often be found lauding it over the plebs in Annabel’s. These “modern day Dockers” should now become social pariahs.

     

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    Grubby Green Goes Red – Lady Green rebranded ‘Lady Greed’ – As ‘The Sun’ quite rightly rebrands Tina Green ‘Lady Greed,’ we join those demanding this creep cough up before Christmas; why should 13,000 families suffer whilst she sits smugly on a £100m yacht?
    Grubby Green Goes Red – Tina Green supposedly cares about her title and status more than anything else. She ought to have been stripped of it after the BHS pensions debacle whilst her fame seeking criminal shagging daughter, Chloe, should jolly well fade into obscurity also.
  • Sir Shifty Returns to Zero

    Sir Shifty Returns to Zero

    As Arcadia looks set to go under today, ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green will deservedly become this season’s pantomime villain

    This morning in the Guardian, a “veteran retail analyst” named Richard Hyman declared of ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green: “He’s gone from zero to hero, and now it looks like he’s going back to zero again.”

     

    Sadly, why that outcome would be very much deserved for a man the legendary actor-writer-producer Steven Berkoff termed “a cross between Shylock and Al Capone” in this very publication, on the day that his retail empire likely goes under, this rotten rat and his sleazy scumbag family will retain their £100 million yacht just as 13,000 people will likely lose their jobs.

     

    Whilst Sir Philip turned down his arch rival Mike Ashley’s offer of a “£50 million lifeline” to keep Arcadia out of administration – with a spokesman for the fat fool telling The Sun on Saturday: “It’s laughable… Sir Philip is not keen to jump into bed with a chancer” – it is now once again time to remind our government of what should really come next.

     

    As the video below proves, Sir Philip Green is not a man of good personal character and in addition he is also not a businessman of sterling quality. This brash braggart and his tax avoiding wench of a wife should be stripped of their ill-gotten titles and they should now finally be told to bog off to super yachting Siberia. Forever.

     

    Pictured top: Sir Philip Green once thought it funny to wander around in a T-shirt emblazoned with: “Phil Says Relax.” He must now be condemned for causing the Christmases of 13,000 families to be anything but relaxed. Shame on him.

     

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    Sir Shifty Returns to Zero – Sir Philip Green pantomime villain 2020 – As Arcadia looks set to go under today, ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green will deservedly become this season’s pantomime villain.
    Sir Shifty Returns to Zero – Looking as if he didn’t care in the world and wearing scummy white socks, beached whale Sir Philip Green sprawled his colossal belly out on the deck of his £100 million super yacht. According to ‘The Sun,’ the shameless tycoon supposedly will Christmas with a £30,000 per night getaway whilst “13,000 of his staff face the sack.”
    Sir Shifty Returns to Zero – Sir Philip Green pantomime villain 2020 – As Arcadia looks set to go under today, ‘Sir Shifty’ Philip Green will deservedly become this season’s pantomime villain.
    Sir Shifty Returns to Zero – “Shylock crossed with Al Capone-esque” Sir Philip Green, his title obsessed wife Tina and well-known village bike of a daughter, Chloe.
    Sir Shifty Returns to Zero – A bit like bum slapping, sex offending ex-Tory MP Charlie Elphicke, rotten rat Sir Philip Green likes a bit of a grope and fondle whilst shouting: “I’ve got Naughty.”
  • Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey

    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey

    Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristo Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”

    Dimwitted dope Lady Victoria Hervey just cannot help but shove her stilettos straight into the proverbial. Whether be it her short-lived relationship with “he who doesn’t sweat in Pizza Express (Woking branch’)” ‘Randy’ Prince Andrew, or flogging knickers in her long since gone-bust shop in Knightsbridge displaying the words “Yes Please” across the crotch, here is a woman with utterly no shame and an utter incapacity to accept any kind of blame for her own failings.

     

    Formerly nicknamed ‘Toff Totty Vicky,’ Lady Victoria predictably showed herself up by banging on about her associations with Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell last year. This weekend, the bubbly blonde went further in posting a picture of the defaced statute of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia on her Instagram page. She not-so charmingly captioned the snap: “Don’t ever tell me this is acceptable behavior [sic]. Fuck BLM [Black Lives Matter].”

     

    Described by even a fellow socialite, the late Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, as “unpleasant” and “a right snob” previously, “luxury is in my blood” Lady Victoria was contradicted by the Reverend Robert W. Lee IV, the general’s great-great-grandson. He “gave his blessing for the monument to be removed” on Thursday according to the BBC and asked: “If today is not the right time, when will it be the right time [to remove the statue]?”

     

    Going further of this situation on Twitter on Sunday, though talking in the context of the related British protests, fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor – a distant relative of the present Duke of Westminster and a man best known for his stint on the BBC’s Fake or Fortune? art documentary series – tweeted:

     

    “Let the Colston statue’s removal be a prompt for councils and museums across Britain to take action to remove similar artworks from display, *as well as* returning the thousands of cultural objects looted during the British Empire. Start now. We’ve waited too long.”

     

    Sadly, yet not unsurprisingly, Lady Victoria – whose ancestor Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol ironically is best remembered as a “social reformer” and “an MP [who] voted for the abolition of slavery in 1807” – has previous form. In 2003, this ‘aristoprat’ stated: “It’s so bad being homeless in winter. They should go somewhere warm like the Caribbean where they can eat fresh fish all day.”

     

    Shame on this irrelevant ignoramus; it’s not Black Lives that don’t matter, it’s instead Victoria Hervey that doesn’t matter.

     

    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey on Black Lives Matters – Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”
    Lady Victoria Hervey with the Duke of York at a social gathering; supporter of the abolition of slavery and “social reformer” Frederick William Hervey, 5th Earl and 1st Marquess of Bristol (1769 – 1859).
    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey on Black Lives Matters – Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”
    Lady Victoria Hervey’s offensive Instagram post was unsurprisingly met with disdain by many. One responded: “Wait, hold up Lady are you saying Fuck Black Lives ???” Another added: “But think you got to be careful saying fuck BLM… That’s not acceptable TBH. It’s offensive.”
    Moron of the Moment – Lady Victoria Hervey on Black Lives Matters – Just as ultimate dumbo Lady Victoria Hervey shows herself up in stating “Fuck Black Lives Matter,” fellow aristocrat Dr. Bendor Grosvenor calls for the return of objects “looted during the British Empire”
    Dr. Bendor Grosvenor’s, by contrast, sensible tweet.

    Classic clangers from former ‘It Girl’ Lady Victoria Hervey:

     

    “I am Lady Victoria Hervey – it doesn’t get more British than that.”

     

    “Unless it’s champagne, I can’t handle it.”

     

    “I do have a day job.”

     

    “My career always goes much better when I haven’t got a man.”

     

    “A baby is easy – you hand them over to a nanny!”

     

    “I’m not stupid. I’m not a dumb model.”                    

     

    “[I aim to become] the next Kate Winslet – but with class.”

     

    “I have had four past lives, three of them as a man. I was a composer in 17th-century Paris, I made materials in India and in Ancient Greece I was a famous politician. In Ancient Egypt I was keeper of the oils for the Pharaoh’s wife, and I love oils so it all kind of fits.”

     

    “What annoys me is when these families have got like 12 children and we’re paying for these kids… They work out that they make more money being on the dole than having a job, they just laze around.”

     

    “The real irony of this is that the poor get poorer and the rich get richer.”

     

    “Travelling is in my blood, and so is liking luxurious things and spending.”

     

    “I haven’t given up on men, there are a few of them around, but I keep leaving every city I meet them in.”

     

    “Everyone from Europe wants to buy houses in LA.”

     

    “I was too old for Jeffrey Epstein… [He seemed] very charming… He was a very well-liked guy.”

     

    “I’m not one of those kind of girls, I don’t like going to dinners with ten models invited… I was very young and impressionable, Jeffrey was a very charismatic man.”

     

    “I haven’t seen [Ghislaine Maxwell] since September [2018] at a friend’s baby shower… I don’t think anyone is going to find her. She’s gone far away. She’s a bit like a James Bond character. She’s quite a unique person and I don’t believe anyone is going to find her… I don’t think we will ever see her again, it’s going to be like Robert Maxwell continued; she will continue that family mystery.”

     

    “I had no idea what was going on [with Jeffrey Epstein]… It’s extraordinary it’s the case, it’s a wild story.”

     

    “I suddenly thought, I’m just Victoria Hervey… Horrible.”

     

    “I don’t want to make enemies.”

     

    Pictured top: Lady Victoria Hervey with Ghislaine Maxwell, the alleged madam and procurer of girls for paedophile Jeffey Epstein.

     

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  • Penny Streeter OBE (née Penny Stiff)

    Penny Streeter OBE (née Penny Stiff)

    A classic ‘rags to riches’ tale is that of Penny Streeter. Born in what was then Rhodesia, this police superintendent’s daughter came to England when she was 12 and worked on Margaret Thatcher’s Youth Training Scheme and in Pizzaland at the age of 16. She went into business with her mother at 22, went bust and after ending up living in a homeless refuge with her children, worked her way back and launched what has become A24 Group, a healthcare recruitment agency in 1995. By 2002, this hard-working woman’s company was the “fastest-growing company in the UK” and in 2019, she was listed as being worth £208 million in The Sunday Times ‘Rich List.’ Streeter and her husband now own a vineyard in South Africa and a winery in Horsham, West Sussex. We say: Cheers to her!

  • Hero of the Hour – David Cornwell

    Hero of the Hour – David Cornwell

    Novelist David Cornwell (AKA John le Carré) speaks sense on the elite, Brexit and Donald Trump

     

    David Cornwell – better known as the novelist John le Carré – gave a rare interview in yesterday’s The Sunday Times. In it, he spoke candidly and revealed his beliefs that Brexit is something he “despises” and that Donald Trump “is such a horse’s arse.”

     

    In the interview Cornwell told the paper’s Bryan Appleyard:

     

    “Surely the definition of a decent society is: one, how it chooses its elite; and, two, how it looks after its losers. Now we choose our elite horribly badly and, as long as private education commands the scene, don’t talk to me about levelling the playing field — the social contract is bust in this country.”

     

    “We’re getting people who start their political careers at university and go in as special assistants to MPs, like those ridiculous people who were advising May [Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill]. We are run by the wrong elite.”

     

    “I understand why people who are socially deprived, with the safety net taken away from them and treated as second-class citizens, have every right to vote for some other dream. I understand that, and I understand it needs a desperate remedy, and fast, but Brexit isn’t the answer.”

     

    Of Trump, he added:

     

    “The Russian-Ukrainian money trail is the one that, combined with collusion in Russian electoral tampering, will, with luck, nail him.”

     

    Cornwell is spot on all scores and we salute him.

     

    ‘A Legacy of Spies’ by John le Carré is out on Thursday (Viking, £20). Pre-order from Amazon for £9.50 by clicking here.

     

  • Alfie Best – What’s on your mantelpiece?

    Alfie Best – What’s on your mantelpiece?

    A 20-question interview with self-made businessman and star of ‘My Fat Gypsy Fortune’ Alfie Best

     

    The Steeple Times shares “wit and wisdom”. What’s your guiding force?

    For a man to know where he is going, he must remember where he is from.

     

    “Don’t get even, get medieval” is, in our humble opinion, a great motto. What’s yours?

    Life is a light, it is your job to make it shine brighter.

     

    Kerry Katona was considered unacceptable in 2007. Who or what is unacceptable in 2017?

    Internet trolls who are brave behind keyboards.

     

    Tony Blair misses being Prime Minister. What do you miss most in your life?

    Time.

     

    What might you swap all your wealth for?

    More time.

     

    Donald Trump was once a case of: “If you owe the bank a thousand, they close you down; but if you owe the bank a billion, you own the bank”. What’s your view on the state of the financial system?

    If you treat the bank as a bank, they will treat you as a customer but if you treat the banks as a partner within your business and build your relationship with the management of the bank, they will consider you as a partner and offer much more insight and help which it is own way, is free to you as a business.

     

    What phrase or word do you most loathe?

    “We have a problem”; one man’s problem is another man’s opportunity.

     

    In the UK, some people consider charity to “begin at home”. What’s your view and what causes do you personally support?

    I do believe charity begins at home but I also believe giving is not as good as teaching. If you give a man a fish, he will feed his family for a night, show the man how to fish and he will feed his family for a lifetime.

     

    We’re actually setting up own charity – Wyldecrest Parks Charity – which hopefully we’ll be able to help vulnerable people in need.

     

    The judge in Law Abiding Citizen states: “I can pretty much do whatever I want” before being blown up whilst answering her mobile phone. What’s your view on the appropriate use of such devices?

    Connection is unbelievable and the forward bounds it has given us a society is unprecedented but we have to remember not to become disconnected from society.

     

    If you could fill a carriage on The Orient Express, who would be your fellow passengers?

    I would fill the carriage with my family and friends and invite Tracy Chapman and the musical artist Rodriguez; I would look for them to enjoy the ride and party whilst it lasted.

     

    If you were unfortunate enough to end up on death row, what would be your last meal and where would you eat it?

    Pie, mash and liquor at the White House with the President to try and get a reprieve whilst eating my last meal.

     

    What time is it acceptable to consume the first drink of the day?

    6:30am with a nice cup of lemon tea.

     

    A Negroni, a martini or a cup of tea?

    A cup of tea.

     

    Whose parties do you enjoy the most and why?

    I enjoy my son’s parties because the charisma he brings to the room is like a ray of sunshine on the beach.

     

    Who is the most positive person you know?

    Me.

     

    What’s your most guilty pleasure?

    Chocolate.

     

    If a tattoo were to sum you up, what would it be of?

    If I were to have a tattoo, it would state ‘BEST’ across my back because it would mean the best is behind me and there is even better to come.

     

    If you were a car, what marque would you be?

    A black Lamborghini.

     

    Cilla Black presented Surprise, Surprise. Tell us the most surprising thing about you.

    After becoming a millionaire at 20, I nearly went bust and slept in my car for 3 months.

     

    What’s currently sitting on your mantelpiece?

    A backward clock – it confuses everyone!

     

    Alfie Best is a successful entrepreneur driven by tenacity. With humble origins, born and raised in a Romany Gypsy family, this self-made man started his professional path totally from scratch. Alongside Wyldecrest Parks, Alfie Best also owns other very successful businesses within the hospitality and leisure, events, trading and finance industries including Vinyl Bar, Kyoto Furniture, Axiom Uno and Wylde Event Management.

     

    Follow him on Twitter at @alfiebest33.

     

  • Five of the Best: Conversation pieces

    Five of the Best: Conversation pieces

    ‘The Steeple Times’ chooses five unusual objects that will prove to be conversation pieces in any home

     

    This week sees Christie’s South Kensington auction a selection of “unconventional” items in their second annual Out of the Ordinary sale. With the help of them, Salvage Europe and Bonhams, here we choose five of the best conversation pieces currently available (more…)

  • Charting your course

    Charting your course

    James Meeston of Saltydog Investor charts the markets

     

    Fifty years ago, our chairman, Douglas Chadwick, was the navigator on a Jamaican banana boat plying between the UK and Kingston, Jamaica. In the hurricane season, the most important thing to have was regular accurate information on any storm’s speed and direction.

      (more…)