Victoria Grace Ford was born on September 21, 1967, in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She was educated at St Paul's Girls' School and Marlborough College before studying Maths and Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge. Prior to her political career, Ford worked in banking, serving as vice-president in the loan syndication department at JPMorgan Chase from 1989 to 2001. She then joined Bear Stearns in 2001 as managing director for loan capital markets, where she worked until 2003.