“We were ahead of our time creating the spa
– the idea of creating a space simply to take
care of your wellness seemed outlandish at the
time – but for me, it felt natural and innate”
Carole Bamford set up her first spa in 2004, after a trip to India / photo: Bamford
The story behind luxury lifestyle and wellness brand Bamford began in 2004 after Lady Carole Bamford decided to explore her passion for meditation, healing treatments and holistic therapies sparked by a trip to India in her twenties.
Bamford – wife of billionaire and chair of JCB Sir Anthony Bamford – was inspired after meeting yoga instructor Vettri Selvan during her travels. So, in 2004 she invited Selvan to England to help her set up the first Bamford Spa and bring what she’d learned about healing in India to the UK.
The brand was launched as a branch of the Bamford’s original organic farming business Daylesford Organic, one of the first real trailblazers in the organic movement in the country.
Daylesford Organic was born after Bamford convinced her husband to begin transforming their family estate in the picturesque Cotswolds into sustainable, organic farming land. Since then, the Bamfords’ 2,500-acre Daylesford Farm has blossomed into a thriving working farm that produces a rainbow of fresh produce, available to buy in an onsite farm shop, gardening shop, kitchen, bakery and creamery.
Guests can also stay over in luxury cottages, make their way to a cookery school and, most importantly, visit the birthplace of the Bamford brand, its flagship spa called The Bamford Wellness Spa – formerly The Haybarn Spa – which has recently undergone a multi-million-pound renovation.
The new 1,150sq m facility has doubled in size and gained a wet area with a herbal steamroom, crystal sauna, wellness pool as well as new treatment rooms and a café. The spa is housed in an agricultural barn complete with a palette of cool white tones, flecks of greenery and exposed woodwork, all bathed in light after the architects maintained the original structure’s imposing high ceilings.
The destination offers a host of Bamford spa rituals blending eastern and western modalities, retreats and a schedule of indoor and outdoor classes, including gong therapy, meditation, pilates and yoga.
The spa also encompasses a new Bamford Outdoor Wellness Tipi and a Crystal Hut for healing sessions with a clairvoyant.
Bamford feels the spa’s atmosphere is calming and soothing, due to the views out to the greenery of the orchard and countryside which root the space in nature, creating a sense of peace and mirroring the healing aspect of the space itself.
“Bamford was a natural evolution from Daylesford,” she explains. “After we’d made the decision to farm organically, my interest and concern for the way I was doing things grew and I began to look at other areas of my life and question the choices I was making.
“Sometimes I think we were ahead of our time with creating the spa – too early in fact. The idea of creating a space simply to take care of your wellness, as opposed to your medical health via a doctor, seemed outlandish at the time. But for me, it felt natural and innate.
“Part of being organic is about being kind to your body and a spa is rooted in the same belief; the need to nurture ourselves and nurture each other.”
She also strongly believes in nurturing nature in all her endeavours, which has led to sustainability becoming the green beating heart of both her businesses. “Everything we do at Bamford is led by nature and by a desire to work in harmony with it, to harness its powers and use them to nourish and soothe our bodies, but also to protect and support it – to ensure we are not the last generation to enjoy its beauty and might.”
Nowadays, Bamford has expanded to encompass a second branded spa in London, an app, a sustainable luxury clothing and homeware collection and a natural beauty line powered by aromatic botanicals – available both online and in stores.
The Bamford beauty collection includes massage oils, body creams, oils, balms, gels and scrubs, supplements and fragrances, as well as haircare, wellness tools – such as Gua Shas – and a comprehensive skincare line.
To date, Bamford is supplying eight global spa locations ranging from Tokyo and Brooklyn to the Maldives.
Lockdown afforded the brand the time to focus on and nurture its digital offering, which saw it roll out online classes and virtual skincare consultations to keep its spa offering accessible.
“Our online offering and product range are ever-evolving in response to customers’ needs and in response to changing wellness concerns,” explains Bamford.
“We’re witnessing really creative ways of doing or producing things more sustainably and that gives me great hope. We need to keep identifying the game-changing solutions – the nature-based solutions – and technologies that are going to help shape that future.”
Looking ahead, her goal for Bamford is for it to continue to innovate and work towards using its products and spas to help people live more sustainably while nurturing their wellbeing.
“Nobody can do things perfectly, but by continuing to question yourself you can adjust and improve,” she says.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2021 issue 3
Editor's letter: All about the people
With global staff shortages threatening to stall economic recovery, it’s time to reboot our commitment to driving improvements in pay and working conditions across the spa and wellness industry
Spa people: Dr Mark Hyman
Dr Mark Hyman MD believes functional medicine has the power to be life-changing in the health and wellbeing of patients.
New opening: Six Senses Shaharut
Six Senses has opened the doors to its new 60-key retreat in Israel’s southern Negev Desert, complete with a 1,900sq m, two-level spa and wellness sanctuary
New opening: QC NY
A 74,000sq ft Italian day spa has opened on New York’s Governors Island after a US$50m investment and seven years of planning, building and restoration.
Interview: Kenneth Ryan
We talk to the global head of spa at Marriott International about navigating the global lockdown, re-imagining the company's brand portfolio and what it will take to succeed post-COVID-19
Sponsored: Time out
Answering a growing demand
for non-invasive, anti-ageing skin
care, Comfort Zone is relaunching
its Sublime Skin line with a new
filler-like natural formula that
reverses cellular degeneration
Research: Total impact
Latest ISPA report considers the economic fallout of the pandemic and the spa industry's road to recovery
Sponsored: Gharieni Group
CEO Sammy Gharieni talks about his relentless drive
to deliver innovative products to underpin operators’ success
Analysis: Role model
What business models are showing the most potential in the wellness industry? Lyndsay Madden Nadeau shares her insights
Interview: Lorenzo Giannuzzi
The hospitality veteran dreamed of reinventing an historic Italian palazzo as a world-class medical spa. Lisa Starr went to find out more
Sponsored: TechnoAlpin
Snow rooms are creating a ‘wow’ factor for customers,
while reducing operating costs in the delivery of hot and cold
experiences
Interview: Gloria Caulfield
The executive director of Lake Nona wellness community talks about tapping into the latest tech to create healthy living environments
Software: Revenue management
How software suppliers have been supporting spas to get savvy with yield management since the pandemic began
Promotion: Iyashi Dôme
Iyashi Dôme’s touchless infrared tech is the perfect investment for the post-lockdown world, says Florent Cornelis
“We were ahead of our time creating the spa
– the idea of creating a space simply to take
care of your wellness seemed outlandish at the
time – but for me, it felt natural and innate”
Carole Bamford set up her first spa in 2004, after a trip to India / photo: Bamford
The story behind luxury lifestyle and wellness brand Bamford began in 2004 after Lady Carole Bamford decided to explore her passion for meditation, healing treatments and holistic therapies sparked by a trip to India in her twenties.
Bamford – wife of billionaire and chair of JCB Sir Anthony Bamford – was inspired after meeting yoga instructor Vettri Selvan during her travels. So, in 2004 she invited Selvan to England to help her set up the first Bamford Spa and bring what she’d learned about healing in India to the UK.
The brand was launched as a branch of the Bamford’s original organic farming business Daylesford Organic, one of the first real trailblazers in the organic movement in the country.
Daylesford Organic was born after Bamford convinced her husband to begin transforming their family estate in the picturesque Cotswolds into sustainable, organic farming land. Since then, the Bamfords’ 2,500-acre Daylesford Farm has blossomed into a thriving working farm that produces a rainbow of fresh produce, available to buy in an onsite farm shop, gardening shop, kitchen, bakery and creamery.
Guests can also stay over in luxury cottages, make their way to a cookery school and, most importantly, visit the birthplace of the Bamford brand, its flagship spa called The Bamford Wellness Spa – formerly The Haybarn Spa – which has recently undergone a multi-million-pound renovation.
The new 1,150sq m facility has doubled in size and gained a wet area with a herbal steamroom, crystal sauna, wellness pool as well as new treatment rooms and a café. The spa is housed in an agricultural barn complete with a palette of cool white tones, flecks of greenery and exposed woodwork, all bathed in light after the architects maintained the original structure’s imposing high ceilings.
The destination offers a host of Bamford spa rituals blending eastern and western modalities, retreats and a schedule of indoor and outdoor classes, including gong therapy, meditation, pilates and yoga.
The spa also encompasses a new Bamford Outdoor Wellness Tipi and a Crystal Hut for healing sessions with a clairvoyant.
Bamford feels the spa’s atmosphere is calming and soothing, due to the views out to the greenery of the orchard and countryside which root the space in nature, creating a sense of peace and mirroring the healing aspect of the space itself.
“Bamford was a natural evolution from Daylesford,” she explains. “After we’d made the decision to farm organically, my interest and concern for the way I was doing things grew and I began to look at other areas of my life and question the choices I was making.
“Sometimes I think we were ahead of our time with creating the spa – too early in fact. The idea of creating a space simply to take care of your wellness, as opposed to your medical health via a doctor, seemed outlandish at the time. But for me, it felt natural and innate.
“Part of being organic is about being kind to your body and a spa is rooted in the same belief; the need to nurture ourselves and nurture each other.”
She also strongly believes in nurturing nature in all her endeavours, which has led to sustainability becoming the green beating heart of both her businesses. “Everything we do at Bamford is led by nature and by a desire to work in harmony with it, to harness its powers and use them to nourish and soothe our bodies, but also to protect and support it – to ensure we are not the last generation to enjoy its beauty and might.”
Nowadays, Bamford has expanded to encompass a second branded spa in London, an app, a sustainable luxury clothing and homeware collection and a natural beauty line powered by aromatic botanicals – available both online and in stores.
The Bamford beauty collection includes massage oils, body creams, oils, balms, gels and scrubs, supplements and fragrances, as well as haircare, wellness tools – such as Gua Shas – and a comprehensive skincare line.
To date, Bamford is supplying eight global spa locations ranging from Tokyo and Brooklyn to the Maldives.
Lockdown afforded the brand the time to focus on and nurture its digital offering, which saw it roll out online classes and virtual skincare consultations to keep its spa offering accessible.
“Our online offering and product range are ever-evolving in response to customers’ needs and in response to changing wellness concerns,” explains Bamford.
“We’re witnessing really creative ways of doing or producing things more sustainably and that gives me great hope. We need to keep identifying the game-changing solutions – the nature-based solutions – and technologies that are going to help shape that future.”
Looking ahead, her goal for Bamford is for it to continue to innovate and work towards using its products and spas to help people live more sustainably while nurturing their wellbeing.
“Nobody can do things perfectly, but by continuing to question yourself you can adjust and improve,” she says.
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2021 issue 3
Editor's letter: All about the people
With global staff shortages threatening to stall economic recovery, it’s time to reboot our commitment to driving improvements in pay and working conditions across the spa and wellness industry
Spa people: Dr Mark Hyman
Dr Mark Hyman MD believes functional medicine has the power to be life-changing in the health and wellbeing of patients.
New opening: Six Senses Shaharut
Six Senses has opened the doors to its new 60-key retreat in Israel’s southern Negev Desert, complete with a 1,900sq m, two-level spa and wellness sanctuary
New opening: QC NY
A 74,000sq ft Italian day spa has opened on New York’s Governors Island after a US$50m investment and seven years of planning, building and restoration.
Interview: Kenneth Ryan
We talk to the global head of spa at Marriott International about navigating the global lockdown, re-imagining the company's brand portfolio and what it will take to succeed post-COVID-19
Sponsored: Time out
Answering a growing demand
for non-invasive, anti-ageing skin
care, Comfort Zone is relaunching
its Sublime Skin line with a new
filler-like natural formula that
reverses cellular degeneration
Research: Total impact
Latest ISPA report considers the economic fallout of the pandemic and the spa industry's road to recovery
Sponsored: Gharieni Group
CEO Sammy Gharieni talks about his relentless drive
to deliver innovative products to underpin operators’ success
Analysis: Role model
What business models are showing the most potential in the wellness industry? Lyndsay Madden Nadeau shares her insights
Interview: Lorenzo Giannuzzi
The hospitality veteran dreamed of reinventing an historic Italian palazzo as a world-class medical spa. Lisa Starr went to find out more
Sponsored: TechnoAlpin
Snow rooms are creating a ‘wow’ factor for customers,
while reducing operating costs in the delivery of hot and cold
experiences
Interview: Gloria Caulfield
The executive director of Lake Nona wellness community talks about tapping into the latest tech to create healthy living environments
Software: Revenue management
How software suppliers have been supporting spas to get savvy with yield management since the pandemic began
Promotion: Iyashi Dôme
Iyashi Dôme’s touchless infrared tech is the perfect investment for the post-lockdown world, says Florent Cornelis
London Museum will open four new food and drink destinations when it launches its new home
at Smithfield on 28 November, making hospitality a central part of the visitor experience at one
of the capital's biggest cultural openings of the year.
OMA has completed a major transformation of New York's New Museum, creating a larger
cultural campus that combines expanded exhibition spaces with learning, performance,
hospitality and public programming.
A US$50 million (£44.2 million, €51.2 million) transformation of Chicago's historic McCormick
Mansion has created a new destination that combines live magic, immersive theatre, dining and
private membership under one roof.
The Montana Historical Society has officially celebrated the opening of its new Montana
Heritage
Center, a US$107 million (£79 million, €92 million) destination that combines immersive
storytelling with cutting-edge audiovisual technology to bring the sta
San Antonio Zoo has reported a US$283 million economic impact for 2025, following a decade-
long transformation programme that has seen almost US$200 million invested into the Texas
attraction.
Plans for the AU$180 million redevelopment of Reef HQ Aquarium in Townsville, Australia, are
progressing, with the project set to transform the attraction into a global centre for reef
education and conservation.
Abu Dhabi-based investment firm Mubadala Capital has made a binding, fully financed
€1 billion
offer to acquire Pierre and Vacances SA, the European holiday resort operator behind the
continental European Center Parcs business.
Disney has reaffirmed its commitment to investing US$30 billion in its US parks and cruise
business by 2033, using new America250 celebrations to underline the role its attractions play
in supporting jobs, tourism and economic growth.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is being planned as a permanent visitor destination, with organisers
confirming the six-million-square-metre site will become a Global Village after the event closes.
The owner of one of Australia's best-known waterparks has acquired a major competitor,
creating a new attractions business spanning two of the country's largest visitor destinations.
