TM Lewin has sold over 10,500 shirts since opening its flagship Bow Lane store in 2025.

Dan Ferris, the boss of near 130-year-old shirtmaker TM Lewin, has gone from filling up Woolworths’ famous pick 'n' mix sweet section as a teenager to reviving another British heritage brand whose high street presence had vanished.

TM Lewin, founded as a family partnership in 1898, had laid its foundations on London’s Jermyn Street in the early 1900s, supplied the RAF and British Army with uniforms in the first world war, and became a leader with its multi-buy shirt offers under long-time company man Geoff Quinn in the late 1990s.

At its height, TM Lewin had around 150 stores across the UK with £100m revenues. However, 2020 saw the retailer close its remaining portfolio of 66 stores and lay off 700 staff as trading ceased. It was bought out of administration before the company was then rescued a second time in 2022 by its main lender Petra Group.

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The firm’s decisions all predate Ferris joining as finance director in late 2021. The remit was to launch a digital only business for the men’s retailer during a tough trading environment for suits and shirts.

After TM Lewin’s second collapse, Ferris says “that's for me when the journey started.”

“We’ve just been working hard to pivot where we are today,” adds Ferris, who was made CEO in January 2025 and has overseen 40% year-on-year growth. “It’s a great British brand and we are returning it to its rightful place on the high street."Dan Ferris says an accounting background has helped shape role as CEO of heritage shirtmaker.

Last year the shirtmaker did just that with its flagship London store in Bow Lane. It is where we meet, with Ferris naturally decked “head to toe” in TM Lewin, a formalwear suit less the tie.

With a nod to heritage, the outlet’s old wooden floors have been retained, while the walls have been stripped back in tune with the company's modern outlook. “We are here to dress the modern professional for their working wardrobe but into the weekend as well,” says Ferris.

Since opening the doors last April, nearly 11,000 shirts have been sold in store, accounting for 50% of the firm’s revenue. Meanwhile, TM Lewin now offers a "professional lifestyle" approach alongside its tailored suits, with chinos, polo shirts and more casual options. Its "5 for £50" multi-buy T-shirts offer has also proved a winner online.

Ferris, a qualified accountant, instantly knows the margins for such a promotion given his love for numbers.

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At school he used to make a profit from selling lollipops before later filling up the sweet canisters at Woolworths during his first part-time job as a 16-year-old. “It’s important for people to have those Saturday jobs as an entry point into real life and being customer-facing,” he notes.

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He studied accountancy and finance at Cardiff University before later working in professional services in Australia for three years. He returned with an accent “somewhere in the Pacific”.

He joined online fashion retailer Net-a-Porter and admitted that a “complete reset” on TM Lewin’s operating model had to be undertaken when he joined, aged 33, after inheriting a bulging inventory.TM Lewin say search interest in the brand has doubled over the past year.

Now, with three bricks and mortar stores, Ferris is eyeing up the competition as CEO and there’s no better location than Bow Lane, where three of TM Lewin’s bigger rivals are all within a few minute’s walk of each other.

I pass Hawes & Curtis on the way – “what are they doing today?” Ferris is quick to quip – who are offering a very competitive shirt offer, while he says Charles Tyrwhitt has a "very sharp pencil with its shirt offers" which keeps him on his toes.

Meanwhile, Moss Bros is another firm with multi-million pound revenues which swept up a portion of the market share left by TM Lewin’s initial high street demise.

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Six years after closing its stores, Ferris now oversees 20 employees at head office and another 25 in retail.

“I don’t think we will have 66 stores again but it’s opening in the right places,” he says. “It’s been hard work but very rewarding and there is so much opportunity to go after.

“Returning it to its former glories is the next stage. We are back and to get back to the £100m brands we still have a long way to go. I am fully confident we can get there but it will require a lot of hard work.”

Behind the brand: Dan Ferris on…

A numbers game as CEO

If you run a promotion, it’s understanding straight away in your head what it will do to the gross margin through to the cash flow, awareness to our commitments of future inventory and getting on top of operating expenses. Knowing how everything works together is really useful.

Leadership

I’ve learned different leadership styles. In Britain there is a right way and wrong way, whereas in Australia, there are two ways to achieve things and maybe a softer leadership approach.TM Lewin is engaging a younger, lifestyle focused audience.

Store presence

What we have seen in the UK is having a physical retail location will really help the brand. It’s not in this year’s plans but we certainly want to re-establish TM Lewin’s physical presence internationally.

When you limit yourself to digital you can’t meet customers who may want to shop in a physical location. We always believed that TM Lewin needed to return to the high street.

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