T. M. Lewin

T. M. Lewin & Sons Limited (commonly known as TM Lewin) is a United Kingdom based menswear retailer. It was started in 1898 by Thomas Mayes Lewin who opened his first shop on London’s Panton Street and later moved to Jermyn Street, renowned as a base for formal shirts. It now has over 150 stores worldwide. TM Lewin started out making shirts but now sells suits, outerwear, knitwear, jackets, chinos, ties and accessories for men.

T. M. Lewin & Sons Limited
Private company
IndustryClothing
Founded1898 (1898)
FounderThomas Mayes Lewin
HeadquartersFarringdon, London, United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsShirts,
Suits,
Ties,
jackets,
knitwear,
accessories for men,
chinos
Websitewww.tmlewin.co.uk
TM Lewin store from circa 1900
TM Lewin shop in Jermyn Street

Headquartered in Farringdon, in the London borough of Islington, the company is majority owned by Bain Capital.[1]

History

19th century

The business was founded by Thomas Mayes Lewin on London’s Panton Street in 1898, before moving to Jermyn Street in 1903. Lewin has been credited with popularising the modern, button-front shirt that we are familiar with today. Before that, men pulled shirts on over their heads.[2]

20th century

During the 1900s, Thomas Mayes developed a reputation for design and quality among London’s gentlemen. In 1903, Mr Lewin’s “coat shirt” was described as a “novel idea” in London Opinion and Today.

During the First World War, TM Lewin supplied the RAF and British Army with uniform.

In 1978, the McKenna family bought TM Lewin. In 1980, future MD Geoff Quinn joined, and helped grow the company so that it had its first £1m year in 1982.

In 1993, the company started an early mail order facility and started moving production from its factory in Southend, overseas into Europe.

21st century

2000 saw TM Lewin open its fifth store on Ludgate Circus and start testing its promotional offers, something that would become a defining characteristic of the brand. It was also awarded the GQ magazine award for 5* shirt.

In 2005, TM Lewin branched out from shirts and started making suits. In the same year, it supplied the ties for the London 2012 Olympic Bid and introduced the 4 for £100 deal.

By 2011, TM Lewin had 100 UK stores and outlets and, a year later, it launched its first overseas store (excluding Dublin) in Sydney, Australia. Following a deal with Bain Capital, Sven Gaede took over as CEO in 2018.

In April 2020, the company bgena talks with potential buyers, as the COVID-19 pandemic jeopardized the retailer's opeartions.[3] It has been reported that Charles Tyrwhitt is among a number of parties which submitted offers for T.M. Lewin.[4] It emerged that Bain Capital – the private equity group that has been supporting TM Lewin since 2015 through its debt investment arm – was keen to sell the heritage menswear retailer and enlisted corporate finance firm Alantra to conduct an auction. Around 650 of its 700-strong employees have been furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme of the UK government, while the stores remain temporarily closed throughout the pandemic.The 50 unfurloughed employees are active in digital operations and supply chain for TM Lewin.[5]

Campaigns

In 2017, Gary Lineker signed up to be the face of TM Lewin.[6] This partnership continued in 2018 and 2019.

TM Lewin has collaborated with several sporting events and teams including Royal Ascot,[7] Harlequins Rugby,[8] and the England and Wales Cricket Board.[9]

Disgruntled Customers

Customers in Czech Republic and Slovakia are complaining already for long time about company behaviour, stating that the company is treating them unfairly and possibly violating the Geoblocking Regulation (EU) 2018/302. Initially, every visitor to the UK online shop from Czech Republic and Slovakia was automatically redirected to the local pages in their language, where prices were higher. [10] As of 2019, the company was circumventing the Regulation by not shipping to the Czech Republic and Slovakia and informing the customers that they must order from local online shop for higher prices.

Stores

As of 2019, the company owned 68 stores in the United Kingdom, and 89 based internationally, including in Ireland, Australia, the United States and across Europe.

TM Lewin has collaborated with several brands and mills including Liberty, Loro Piana, Albini and Falke.

References
  1. "TM Lewin management buys remaining 20% stake in the business". Retail Week. 3 August 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  2. "Historic Clothing". Elgar Shirts. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  3. Whitehead, Matt (17 April 2020). "TM Lewin seeks bids amid pandemic shutdown". Retail & Leisure International. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  4. Jahshan, Elias. "Charles Tyrwhitt mulls TM Lewin takeover - Retail Gazette". Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  5. Jahshan, Elias (2 May 2020). "Charles Tyrwhitt mulls TM Lewin takeover". Retail Gazette. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  6. "Gary Lineker unveiled as the face (and body) of T.M.Lewin's latest campaign". Threepipe. 26 October 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  7. "TM Lewin and Ascot Racecourse unveil multi-year deal". Fashion Network. 14 January 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  8. "Harlequins suit up with T.M.Lewin". Harlequins Rugby Union. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  9. "TM Lewin – Official formalwear of England cricket". England and Wales Cricket Board. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  10. ČIŠECKÁ, Nikol. Internet business transactions with an international element. Prague, 2018. Diploma thesis. Charles University. Faculty of Law. https://dspace.cuni.cz/handle/20.500.11956/105542
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