TM Lewin Adds Casualwear as AI Thins Graduate Hiring
Shirtmaker TM Lewin is moving into t-shirts and knitted sweaters. Its managing director says the shrinking pool of young graduates, which he links to AI, is cutting the number of new people who need a shirt and tie.
Half suits, half casual
TM Lewin was founded in 1898. It came back to British high streets after collapsing into administration at the start of the decade, and has widened its casualwear range since. Dan Ferris, the managing director, told City AM that AI has "diminished" the pool of young graduates taking City jobs.
The range used to be formalwear only. Today suits make up half of the range and casualwear the other half. Recent best-sellers include rugby shirts and fisherman-style knitwear.
Fewer graduates, fewer new customers
Asked whether graduates now buy less formalwear while City firms pass junior tasks to AI agents, Ferris answered: "Exactly. It reduces that pool of new customer acquisitions."
He said the slowdown is not limited to finance. He pointed to the tech industry, where layoffs run into the thousands almost every week, and called it obvious that AI is having an impact on employment. Ferris allowed that the pool might grow again "when everyone realises that you need people." For now the company has looked to other areas for growth.
City AM adds a data point. UK graduate vacancies hit a record low in September, Adzuna's data show, and PwC and KPMG are among the employers cutting jobs.
Office habits changed the shirt
Ferris said the return to the office after the pandemic has helped demand for suits and ties. Working patterns still shifted, though. "Most companies are at least one day working from home, so that's one less day that you're wearing a shirt," he said.
He added that many office workers wore a suit and shirt five days a week before Covid. That, in his view, has "materially changed" and will not go back, at least for the foreseeable future.
A smaller footprint, and a complaint about support
The company operated more than 150 shops at its mid-2010s peak. It called in administrators in June 2020 after Covid lockdowns hit demand for suits and ties. Torque Brands, an arm of the US private equity firm Stonebridge, bought it out of administration that year. It collapsed again in March 2022, when its online-only model failed.
New stores have opened slowly in recent months, including Bow Lane and Liverpool Street in the Square Mile. Sales are 40 per cent higher than a year ago. Two more stores are due in November, in Victoria and Bluewater, Kent. Ferris said TM Lewin will "never go back" to its pre-collapse footprint. He added that high rents and rising business rates mean it has to work hard to find viable sites for new stores.
He said he was "stunned by how little support" Chancellor John Healey offered retailers at last month's Budget. Critics faulted the Chancellor over the freeze for high street firms, since the tax still rises with inflation.
Source: City AM