Charles Tyrwhitt (also known as CT Shirts) is a multi-channel British clothing retailer, specialising in men’s shirts, shoes, suits, knitwear, and accessories, with no longer any lines of womenswear.
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Clothier |
| Founded | London, United Kingdom, 1986 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Nicholas Charles Tyrwhitt Wheeler (Founder) |
| Products | Clothing |
| Website | www.ctshirts.com |
Charles Tyrwhitt was founded as a mail order company in 1986 by Nicholas Charles Tyrwhitt Wheeler while he was a student at Bristol University.
Wheeler has said that he started the business simply because he thought he "could make a shirt better than anybody else".
In 1997, the company opened its first store on Jermyn Street, London, notable for its history in British shirt making. Charles Tyrwhitt’s flagship store is now at Nos. 98–100 Jermyn Street.
Charles Tyrwhitt uses a high-low pricing sales model. His wife, Chrissie Rucker, is the founder and owner of The White Company.
Charles Tyrwhitt produces a regular series of brochures every year. They also have a large online store, with sites dedicated to the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, US and Australia that sell the full product range.
Charles Tyrwhitt sells the vast majority of merchandise at significant discount from its published retail price. In the U.S., a non-iron dress shirt retails for $160, while 4 shirts for $200 or even less is a common price. Prices have been seen as low as $29 per shirt on CT shirts. It has been reported that online sale prices can be honored in the New York City retail locations.
Charles Tyrwhitt now has 28 stores. 10 are in London, 10 elsewhere in the UK, 6 in the US (4 in New York, 1 in Chicago and 1 in Washington), and one in Paris, France. There is a store in Melbourne City, Australia.
Charles Tyrwhitt uses an independent customer feedback service called Feefo.
This allows some customers (those willing to provide the company with their email address) to give feedback on the service they experienced from Charles Tyrwhitt that is then published as a live feed on the Charles Tyrwhitt website. These reviews are unedited on the Charles Tyrwhitt website. As of Nov 2014, Charles Tyrwhitt has a 97% positive customer service rate.
The customer service centre is currently based in London, England and Milton Keynes, England. Customers calling from the US and overseas will also be put through to a customer service representative in London or Milton Keynes.
Charles Tyrwhitt has received awards for their customer service in recent years. Most notably Charles Tyrwhitt was awarded first place for customer service in the 2011 Sunday Times Profit Track 100 awards.
Charles Tyrwhitt earned awards at the Top 50 Companies For Customer Service Awards, including Best Web Chat, Best E-Retailer, second place for Calls and third for best overall customer service.
Charles Tyrwhitt has received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for International Trade in 2016.
David Cameron has shown his support for British Fashion at a reception to celebrate the start of the London Collections for Men. Tieless, in a Richard James suit, Charles Tyrwhitt shirt and Oliver Sweeney shoes.
The president of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars North America, David Archibald, buys his suits from Charles Tyrwhitt. "Charles Tyrwhitt’s styles are quite traditional yet quite comfortable. I travel a lot and the suits jump in and out of suitcases – all the while allowing me to look as I should."
Lord Sugar regularly tweets his appreciation for Charles Tyrwhitt.
- "Interview with Nick Wheeler". Business.timesonline.co.uk. (subscription required)
- ^ Tripathi, Shruti (2014-11-12). "From zero to £190m: How Nick Wheeler built Charles Tyrwhitt | Interviews".
- ^ "Charles Tyrwhitt UK stores".
- ^ "Mens' Clothing Dealz: Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts".
- ^ "Charles Tyrwhitt UK Reviews | Customer Reviews Of www.ctshirts.co.uk".
- ^ "Profit Track 100 award winners". Fasttrack.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2015-11-24. Retrieved 2015-11-23.
- ^ Mowbray, Nicole (2013-01-08). "'Blame Sam for my style crimes!': David Cameron says wife doles out clothes 'like food to a prisoner' on shopping trips (and lets us know his pants are from M&S) | Daily Mail Online".
- ^ "Power dressing: David Archibald".
- ^ "Charles Tyrwhitt: Lord Sugar". .
