Carole Gray Bamford, Baroness Bamford, OBE ( Whitt; born 1946), is a British business person who founded the Daylesford Organic Farmshops chain and the Bamford brand of women's products.

Personal life

Carole Bamford (née Carole Gray Whitt) was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. She is married to the billionaire industrialist Anthony, Lord Bamford, and is a director of his family's JCB construction company. The family business has made significant donations to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, in particular during the 2010 general election. She married Bamford in 1974. They live on a 1500-acre estate near

Chipping Norton Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...

in the Cotswolds. They have one daughter and two sons. Her son,

Jo Bamford Jo Bamford (born Joseph Cyril Edward Bamford in December 1977) is a British businessman and heir to the multi-billion pound JCB family fortune. After working in the family-owned JCB (company), JCB company, he founded a green hydrogen investment fu ...

, is the heir to JCB and the owner of

Wrightbus Wrightbus is a Northern Ireland based bus manufacturer and a pioneer of the low-floor bus. The company was established in 1946 by Robert Wright and was later run by his son William Wright, until it was acquired in 2019 by British businessman ...

. In the 2006 New Year Honours, Bamford was appointed OBE for her services to children and families.

Business interests

Bamford brand

A Bamford store opened in Gloucestershire in 2004. The Bamford Haybarn Spa opened the following year, and a second spa site was opened in London in November 2018.

Daylesford

Bamford started converting the family's farms in Staffordshire and Gloucestershire to

organic Organic may refer to: * Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity * Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ Chemistry * Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...

farming. This led to the opening of a farm shop and café in 2002 on the

Daylesford House Daylesford House is a Georgian country house near Daylesford, Gloucestershire (formerly in Worcestershire until 1931), on the north bank of the River Evenlode near the border with Oxfordshire. It is about east of Stow-on-the-Wold and w ...

estate in Gloucestershire, and creation of an organic deer farm on the

Wootton Lodge Wootton Lodge is a privately owned 17th-century country house situated at Wootton near Ellastone, Staffordshire, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Architectural description The impressive west entrance front has basements and three st ...

estate in Staffordshire. At a trade event in 2012, Daylesford Farmshop at online retailer

Ocado Ocado Group is a British business based in Hatfield, England, which licenses grocery technology. It owns a 50% share of Ocado.com (the other 50% is owned by UK retailer Marks & Spencer) and licenses its grocery fulfilment technology to global ...

was awarded 'best organic retailer'.

Philanthropy

In India, the Lady Bamford Charitable Trust (formed in 2000) has built schools and communities around JCB factories in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

, Ballabgarh, Ladhiapur and Ambi. Similar projects have been developed around other JCB factories. In South America, the Fundação Lady Bamford opened in 2009, and in the USA, The Lady Bamford Center for Early Childhood Development in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Br ...

was opened in 2007. In June 2012 she received an International Leadership Award at the Global Green Millennium Awards. In the UK, Bamford works closely with

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

, the Soil Association and Slow Food Movement.

References

External links

Carole Bamford Holistic LivingBamfordDaylesford OrganicDaylesford FoundationLady Bamford Early Learning Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamford, Carole 1946 births Living people British baronesses People from Nottingham British businesspeople British philanthropists British farmers Officers of the Order of the British Empire National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children people Spouses of life peers