Carole Bamford, Founder, Daylesford & Bamford

Carole Bamford has a wide ranging business portfolio which includes natural wellbeing, farming, retail, restaurants and an independent clothing line.  She puts sustainability, organic farming, responsibly-sourced food and holistic living at the forefront of all her business models.  As the founder of Daylesford, she recognises that traditional craft skills and home enterprises hold an important place in a natural community.  Carole Bamford is hailed as both a visionary and a brand ambassador for both her award winning Daylesford and Bamford brands.

Daylesford

Carole Bamford was one of the first to recognise the importance and potential of organic, locally grown produce.  Whilst she was attending an agricultural show in the early 1980s she was exposed to the idea of sustainable farming.  She wasted no time in converting the village of Daylesford to a sprawling, organic farm, where traditional methods were encouraged and the use of herbicides and pesticides were strictly controlled.  Encouraged by the early success of her project and by the idea of giving her children good and healthy food, she moved on to retail and began to sell the local farm food to her friends and neighbours.  This resulted in the opening of the widely acclaimed Daylesford Organic Farmshop Cafe in 2002.

Daylesford has expanded in the recent decade to include stand alone farmshops and cafes in Notting Hill, Pimlico and Gloucestershire.  There is also a concession stand in Selfridges Food Hall and a section on Ocado.com.  Selfridges & Co also played host to Daylesford’s first pop up cafe in the summer of 2012.

In 2006, Carole Bamford was awarded ‘Personality of the Year’ at the Food and Farming awards.  This was, in part, a tribute to her own personal contribution, but it also recognised Daylesford’s continuous pursuit of award winning produce, sustainability and environmental ethos.  In June of 2012 Carole was also honoured with an International Leadership Award at the Global Green Millennium Awards.

“I believe in simple, good food, which is the result of organic farming; it is better for us, our animals and the environment.

Daylesford was a dream of mine for 20 years and thanks to a committed, hardworking and passionate team around me, it has become a reality. In April 2012, we were honoured to receive ‘UK’s Best Organic Retailer’ with our virtual online farmshop on Ocado, at the Natural and Organic Product awards.” Carole Bamford.

Bamford 
Carole Bamford ensures that all of her personal values are instilled in the Bamford brand.  She has marketed it for women after her own heart, with busy business and social calendars, who also need time for themselves to pursue their own hobbies and activities.

Since the launch of Bamford in 2006, the brand has become synonymous with high quality garments, fashioned for relaxed wearing and made from only the finest natural fibres.  Bamford’s mantra is to create a clothing line that echoes grace, elegance and luxury.

As well as womenswear, Bamford also designs and makes natural home products – including a body and bath range along with baby products.  They have been developed by a natural and holistic retreat known as Hay Barn, which was voted the Favourite UK Day Spa by the readers of Conde Nast Traveller.  The Bamford range is also the house favourite for Herb House Spa at Limewood and at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc.

Family & Philanthropy

Originally from Nottingham, Carole Bamford moved to London where she met and married Anthony Bamford in 1974.  Anthony Bamford was successfully expanding JCB, the construction giant which is now the 3^rd largest construction equipment firm in the world.

JCB is a multi award winning firm which is highly regarded in the export, marketing and design.  The company employs over 10,000 people and is a worldwide brand – with factories in the USA, Brazil, China, Germany and India

Carole has dedicated her working life to supporting her husband in growing his company and developing charitable strategies and corporate responsibility.  For over 35 years she and the company have devoted time, energy and money into supporting the NSPCC and were integral in organising the launch of the Full Stop campaign in 1999.  This project involved a nationwide attempt to end child cruelty and has been hugely successful.  Carole also played a vital role in the launch of the JCB Academy in 2011, a highly modern facility which delivers engineering and business education of the highest quality.

The Lady Bamford Charitable Trust, formed in 2000, has helped to build community centres and schools around JCBs factories in India.  In South American, the Fundacao Lady Bamford opened in 2009 as well as the Lady Bamford Center for Early Childhood Development in Savannah, Georgia, which opened in 2007.

In 2006 Lady Bamford was awarded an OBE for services to children and families.  She continues to work closely with the Soil Association and Slow Food Movement, endeavouring to preserve the environment and to aid in animal welfare.  She supports schools and humanitarian projects – particularly those which focus on women and children internationally.

She and her husband have one daughter and two sons and are proud grandparents to four grandchildren.