Until recently, the worst that the U.K. had to suffer for its support of Ukraine came in the form of rocketing energy bills and the occasional supermarket-supply-chain issue. But now things have escalated beyond all comprehension. That’s right, the Russians have decided to hit us right where it hurts the most: the posh organic-farm shop.
This week it was revealed in The Mail on Sunday that a band of Russian hackers—using the alias “Snatch,” after the Guy Ritchie film—released information obtained from a 2021 hack of Daylesford Organic, the high-end-food company that operates out of the Cotswold. As a result of last year’s hack, the Daylesford client list has now been published online. And this is no mere client list, either. It has been reported that figures such as Sir David Attenborough, Jeremy Clarkson, Sarah Ferguson, and tennis star Tim Henman have since had their home addresses, staff grievances, banking information, confidentiality agreements, and more pasted up on the Dark Web for all to see.
It’s embarrassing, but more embarrassment might be to come, because the details of Daylesford’s most notorious customer are conspicuous by their absence. Former prime minister Boris Johnson is said to be an all-time Daylesford nut; not only did he shell out more than $17,000 on a procession of fully stocked Daylesford picnic baskets and ready meals during the U.K.’s coronavirus lockdown, but this summer he also held a wedding party at Daylesford House, the estate upon which Daylesford Organic is located.
The party might not have been to everyone’s taste—The Telegraph described it as having “the vibe of a failed pop festival, complete with portable lavatories.” Regardless, it’s a sign of how closely Daylesford and Johnson are intertwined. The company was founded 20 years ago by Carole Bamford, wife of Ferrari-collecting billionaire and Tory donor Anthony Bamford (full formal title: Baron Bamford of Daylesford in the County of Gloucestershire and Wootton in the County of Staffordshire); he is also the chairman of the construction-manufacturing firm JCB. As well as footing the almost $28,000 bill for the Johnson wedding party, Anthony Bamford donated more than $100,000 to the pro-Brexit Vote Leave campaign, to which Johnson was closely aligned.
Daylesford Organic, though, is a world away from this grubbiness. It’s a place where perfectly formed vegetables overflow from wicker baskets, where every last fitting has been Farrow & Balled into submission. As the company has grown in status, its site has expanded to include a spa, several dining spots (one of which holds a Michelin Green Star), a garden center, an antiques shop, a cooking school, a number of holiday properties, and a housewares shop, where customers can purchase $95 bread bins to keep their $9.75 organic psyllium-husk bread. Richard E. Grant was set to host its annual Harvest Festival, but it was postponed due to the Queen’s death. It’s that kind of place.
The Telegraph described it as having “the vibe of a failed pop festival, complete with portable lavatories.”
The company thrives on such an illusion of serene perfection that the hack had to have come as something of a blow, especially if its wealthy clients started to worry about their data security. Chief executive Nick Fletcher described the attack in 2021 as “very upsetting.”
Although the hackers did not release the client list last year, and it was reported that no personal data had been compromised, only now are we seeing the kind of information they were able to access. Who knows what will happen next. Either way, Daylesford Organic now has a giant target on its back. Perhaps this is down to its well-known clientele, their details now a hot commodity on the Dark Web. Or maybe it’s just that the hackers saw that this is a company that charges people more than $9 for a loaf of bread and figured it had the money to pay a ransom. Either way, Daylesford should probably beef up its security.
Stuart Heritage is a Kent, U.K.–based Writer at Large for AIR MAIL and the author of Bedtime Stories for Worried Liberals
