Anthony Bamford

Anthony Paul Bamford, Baron Bamford, DL (born 23 October 1945) is a British businessman, chairman of JCB. He succeeded his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, as chairman and managing director of JCB in 1975, at the age of 30. He was knighted in 1990[3] at the age of 45. His wealth was estimated at £4.7 billion as of May 2020.[4]

The Right Honourable

The Lord Bamford

DL
Chairman of JCB
Assumed office
1975 – present
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
3 October 2013
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
Anthony Paul Bamford

(1945-10-23) 23 October 1945[1]
Staffordshire, England[2]
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Carole, Lady Bamford
Children4
EducationAmpleforth College
OccupationBusinessman
Net worth £4.7 billion (Sunday Times Rich List, 2020)

Education

Bamford was educated at Ampleforth College, followed by the University of Grenoble.[5]

Life and career

Bamford has been outspoken on the need for the Government to champion manufacturing in the UK and commissioned a report in 2012 on the subject which was sent directly to David Cameron.[6] He was elevated to the House of Lords in August 2013.[7]

Bamford expressed an interest in purchasing Jaguar Cars in August 2006,[8] but backed out when he was told the sale would also involve Land Rover, which he did not wish to buy.

Bamford is married to Carole, Lady Bamford, OBE.

Outside of business, Bamford is a well-known collector of early vintage Ferraris,[9] and is the only individual to own two Ferrari 250 GTOs.[10] He was also once the owner of a 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 grand prix car raced by the five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina.[11]

In 1974, he sued the then MP Jeffrey Archer for bankruptcy after Archer failed to repay a £172,000 loan. Archer had lost the money in a fraudulent share scam. Archer later repaid the money from his earnings as a novelist and Bamford subsequently withdrew the bankruptcy notice.[12]

Politics

Bamford is a major donor to the Conservative Party and donated £1m before the 2010 General Election. Altogether, Bamford has donated more than £4m personally and through JCB companies.

Prime Minister David Cameron recommended Bamford for a peerage in 2010. However, Bamford withdrew his name from consideration days before the members were announced.[13]

On 3 October 2013 he was created a life peer taking the title Baron Bamford, of Daylesford in the County of Gloucestershire and of Wootton in the County of Staffordshire.[14]

In June 2016, Bamford wrote a letter in support of voting to leave the European Union to his employees.[15] JCB has donated £100,000 to the Vote Leave campaign. In 2000, JCB was fined £22m (€39.6m) by the EU for antitrust breaches.[16][17]

Bamford is also close to Tony Blair and Prince Charles.[18]

During the 2019 United Kingdom general election campaign Bamford donated £3,935,984 to the Conservative Party.[19]

Personal life

Bamford owns mansions in several countries (including in England Daylesford House and Wootton Lodge).[20] Although he was linked to offshore tax havens in the Panama papers through sole ownership of Casper Ltd., his spokesman said the company was inactive for its entire existence before being dissolved in 2012.[21]

Styles and honours
  • Mr Anthony Bamford (1945–90)
  • Sir Anthony Bamford (1990–2002)
  • Sir Anthony Bamford DL (2002–2013)
  • The Lord Bamford DL (2013–present)

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Strachan, Ian (26 January 2017). "Rich List 2017: No.2 - Lord Bamford and family". birminghampost.
  3. "No. 52543". The London Gazette. 28 May 1991. p. 8207.
  4. Times, The Sunday. "Rich List 2020: profiles 21-50, featuring Salma Hayek and Sir Richard Branson". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  5. "Anthony Paul Bamford BAMFORD – BIOGRAPHY". Debrett's People of Today. Debrett's. Archived from the original on 7 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  6. Quinn, James (1 August 2013). "Sir Anthony Bamford and Dame Lucy Neville-Rolfe lead list of new business peers". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  7. Working Peerages announced Gov.uk
  8. "JCB's Sir Anthony Bamford eyes Jaguar". Contract Journal. 24 August 2006. Archived from the original on 31 May 2009.
  9. "New Faces, New Tastes". www.ferraris-online.com. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  10. Okulski, Travis. "Here Is A List of All The People Who Own Ferrari 250 GTOs". Jalopnik. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  11. Levine, Leo (5 July 2013). "A Singular Mercedes Aims for Another Record". The New York Times.
  12. Davies, Caroline (20 July 2001). "He lied his way to the top". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  13. Dodd, Vikram (31 May 2010). "Conservatives confirm leading party donor withdrew from peerage list | Politics | The Guardian". The Guardian. London: GMG. ISSN 0261-3077. OCLC 60623878. Retrieved 31 October 2012.
  14. "No. 60649". The London Gazette. 7 October 2013. p. 19679.
  15. "EU referendum: JCB chairman tells staff of Brexit support". BBC News. 15 June 2016.
  16. "JCB hit by £22m competition fine". The Guardian. 15 June 2016.
  17. "Commission fines JCB for unlawful distribution agreements and practices". European Commission Press Release Database. 21 December 2000.
  18. "Big Wheel: The social circle of Sir Anthony Bamford". The Independent. London. 23 August 2006.
  19. McCall, Nick Rodrigues and Alastair. "Top 50 political donors who bankrolled the UK election 2019". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  20. Hart, Carolyn (9 November 2012). "Versatile venison recipes from Daylesford Organic". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  21. "Tory donors' links to offshore firms revealed in leaked Panama Papers". The Guardian. 4 April 2016.
Business positions
Preceded by
Joseph Bamford		 Chairman of JCB
1975–present		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
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