THE owner of a Herefordshire hotel and residential park home will feature in the new series of ITV's Undercover Big Boss which airs tonight (Thursday).

Millionaire Alfie Best heads Wyldecrest Parks, the company behind the currently neglected Hop Pole Hotel in Bromyard and the nearby Saltmarshe Castle Residential Park.

Mr Best bought the hotel in 2019, but his plans to refurbish the 18-room town centre hotel were scuppered by river Lugg pollution issues and the coronavirus pandemic.

He wanted to turn the hotel, a focal point in the town square, into a five-star hotel, bar and restaurant.

But Mr Best, who was 382nd on the Times Rich List in 2020 with a net worth of more than £340 million, will feature in the brand new series of the global hit Undercover Boss, an Emmy award-winning show on ITV.

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The series will feature a group of chief executives and company bosses swap their suits for overalls and go in disguise to work in their own companies, to see what really goes on behind closed doors.

"First up is Alfie Best, owner of Wyldecrest Parks, the largest caravan and park home operator in Europe," it said on the Radio Times website.

"While other businesses have struggled through the pandemic, it's been a boon for Alfie, with staycations at an all-time high.

"He starts his undercover journey with Richard, one of his sales team. But he's soon tearing his hair out over missed sales opportunities."

The episode will air tonight (Thursday) at 9pm on ITV.

The series has been supersized and rebooted for ITV and Studio Lambert said it is more timely than ever, as England reopens following three national coronavirus lockdowns and UK firms face their greatest challenge, a battle to survive.

"With the gap between multi-millionaire bosses and their struggling workers wider than ever, there will be big emotion, big rewards and some big shocks in store as the bosses get their hands dirty," Studio Lambert said.

"The four-part series will see bosses from Pickfords, Bristol Street Motors, Wyldecrest Parks, and Euro Foods Group roll up their sleeves and join workers on the bottom rung of the ladder and live a life they had long left behind."

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It added: "Due to recent travel restrictions, caravan parks and staycations are thriving, but is business booming for Wyldecrest Parks, the largest residential park and holiday home operator in the UK?"

ITV factual commissioner Kate Teckman said: “As we come out of the pandemic it’s clear that there’s never been a bigger gap between the multimillionaire bosses and their workers, so this is the perfect time to bring viewers an all-new Undercover Big Boss as we see how they will fare swapping their corporate dinners for packed lunches and what changes they will make for their workers.”

Studio Lambert’s deputy creative director Mike Cotton said: "There’s never been a more relevant time to bring Undercover Boss back.

"It’s a fascinating snapshot of modern working Britain and we’re very grateful to the bosses who were brave enough to don a disguise and embark on this journey amidst the chaos of a pandemic.’’