The wife of billionaire chief digger and Tory ‘super donor’ Lord Bamford has been accused of ‘ruining’ a picturesque Cotswolds village by buying a holiday property.
Lady Carol Bamford, who allowed her close friend Boris Johnson to move into her £20million London flat after he resigned as prime minister, has built an impressive homewares and hospitality empire.
But the jewel in Lady Bee’s crown is its flagship Daylesford Organic store, set in 3,500 acres of organic farmland and a favorite of the ‘Chipping Norton’ group.
His company also owns four pubs and 32 holiday homes in the area, and in August this year received planning permission for a 38-bedroom hotel with restaurant, brewery, bakery and demonstration barn in a disused mill in Kingham, Oxfordshire.
The site is just a mile from Daylesford Organic, where MailOnline found items for sale including a £950 tumbler-style blanket basket, Swedish side tables, one of which had legs, valued at £3,500 each and a ‘ Kindle’ burnt cedar from £6,950. bowl.
The store was selling an 80cm diameter oak planter for £2,085 and a liter of biodynamic rosé wine from the company’s vineyard in France for £220.
But it is Lady Bamford’s collection of properties that is currently expanding at such a rate, with fed-up locals now calling her once picturesque village ‘Bamfordshire’.
Lady Bamford (pictured with Lord Bamford) built an impressive hospitality and homewares business in the Cotswolds.
The image is from Daylesford Organic Store, where MailOnline has seen many items sold at exorbitant prices.
The Bamfords’ main residence, Daylesford House, is a Grade I listed Georgian country house on an estate next to their favorite farm shop.
The businesswoman, who married billionaire JCB chairman Lord Anthony Bamford in 1974, wants to expand her holiday empire in the area.
Lauren, a woman in her 20s, Young people in the town expressed frustration at being priced out of the property market by many landlords like Bamford.
He said many in Kingham felt Lady Bamford’s growing business empire was “ruining the town”.
Lorraine, who works as a cleaner, said: ‘Any property on the market in Kingsham goes up very quickly now, often with money from Lady Bamford and others to buy a second home.
“This has caused young people like me to be expelled from the town. A lot of people have lived here their whole lives and want to live here, but the only thing they can do now is find a place to rent if they can. It’s a waste.
MailOnline found items for sale including a £950 wicker-style blanket basket (pictured).
There were also Swedish side tables, one of which had legs (pictured), which cost £3,500 each.
A burnt cedarwood ‘Kindle’ bowl was priced at £6,950
The luxury homewares store was also selling an 80cm diameter oak planter for £2,085.
These oak planters from Dalesfield Farm will set buyers back thousands of pounds
‘He’s ruining the town. ‘
Nearby is teacher Madeleine Smith, who, despite being 77 years old, still works part-time at a local primary school.
He has lived in Kingham since 1987 and has spent many years spending his free time helping to run an events committee at festivals and community celebrations for locals, such as bonfires and Christmas parties.
He said that since Bamford and other millionaires began looting property in the village, the number of people willing to help run the event committee has decreased so significantly that he decided to resign from his volunteer role.
He said: “There were only a few left and more and more time was being demanded of us to keep things going, so I gave it up.” It’s a shame because there are now many fewer community events in the town and the town loses something special that unites us. ‘
One of four local pubs Lady Bamford has bought in recent years, The Wild Rabbit, is now a luxury gastropub selling food, wine and beer that many locals can no longer afford.
In August this year, Lady Bamford received planning permission to build a 38-bedroom hotel with restaurant, brewery, bakery and display barn at the disused Kingham Mill, near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire.
It is the site of the former Mill House pub in Kingham, now owned by Lady Bamford.
Locals call the village ‘Bamfordshire’ and have raised concerns about the number of properties the couple have bought.
‘I also heard that some people approach him to sell their houses. It saves them having to put their property on the market with a real estate agent and is worth it financially, but it is having a very negative impact on the life of the town and the community.
“There are not as many local people here now and this is pushing young people to leave the area because they cannot afford to buy more and have to move to the big cities to find work and cheaper property.”
Mrs Smith, who has three grandchildren and a newborn grandson, said the young man’s escape from Kingham had left her “upset”.
“We are losing the younger generation.”
The expanding property empire adds to the Bamfords’ main residence, which is Daylesford House, a Grade I listed Georgian country house on an estate next to their beloved farm shop.
It was here that Lord Bamford, a reputed Tory “super donor”, and his wife held lavish parties.
Lord Bamford has donated tens of millions to the Conservatives over the last decade, and both he and his wife have been particularly generous to his close friend Boris Johnson.
The former First Minister received a daily delivery of Daylesford organic prepared meals, heated and served by a personal chef in Daylesford during the pandemic.
He came under fire when he and Carrie received £27,000 worth of luxury food delivered to No 10. Daylesford’s meals, rich in iron, protein and vitamins, were designed to revive Johnson’s energy levels after his brush with Covid.
Code names were used for the then Prime Minister and Lady B, who organized daily deliveries to the number 10 back door.
Lord Bamford is chairman of JCB and is also considered a Conservative ‘super donor’, having been particularly generous to Boris Johnson (pictured together in 2021)
Then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson came under fire during lockdown when it emerged that a butler on a Boris bike had hidden Daylesford’s food supplies behind number 10 and a member of staff had collected them. Photo: October 2020
An assistant returns to No. 10 with daily deliveries in January 2021
The food was smuggled in after a butler left it on one of the ‘Boris Bikes’ rented in London.
The Bamfords also paid for Johnson and Carrie Symonds’ wedding and held it at the Daylesford estate, above another cottage, before giving the couple access to Lady B’s £20million mansion in Knightsbridge.
Despite the surprising generosity, The Observer reports that Lady B Johnson was due to be given a Damehood in the honors list, but it appears the outgoing Prime Minister was stopped at the last minute.
One of four local pubs Lady Bamford has bought in recent years, The Wild Rabbit, is now a luxury gastropub selling food, wine and beer that many locals can no longer afford.
One local, who did not want to be named, said: “Before they bought this pub I used to come every night and enjoy pints that cost no more than £4 each.”
‘It’s very expensive now and I use The Plug, which is the only pub here they haven’t bought yet. No doubt they’ll buy it soon too and then I’ll have nowhere to drink.
