The legal battle over the rightful ownership of the TM Lewin franchise in Nigeri
This is subsequent to An Anthon Pillar Order issued on September 2nd 2014, by The Federal High Court, holden at Lagos, presided by Hon. Justice O.E. Abang concerning Suit No. FHC/L/CS/1258/2014 following an application brought by EQUIPOISE NIGERIA LIMITED AND T.M. LEWIN (NIG) LIMITED, seeking redress from the court for breach of contact against TM LEWIN AND SONS UK LIMITED for itself and all class of persons engaged in the use of the trade name TM Lewin and selling T.M. Lewin products in Nigeria.
The Order further restrains the defendants from using the trade name TM Lewin products in Nigeria pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.
According to our sources other TM Lewin shops in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ilorin and Kaduna including sub outlets will also be raided in the following days in line with the court order.
Said an industry source,
‘what the TM Lewin London guys did was morally and ethically wrong and unprofessional. It was just a case of greed gone sour. They felt because the guy is a Nigerian they could do away with him after he had spent tens of millions of naira to introduce , build and sustain the brand in Nigeria. some of it through unpaid bank loans and just kick him out and carry on business as usual.
This could not have been done to an American or Indian or even an European. Thats our sad story as a nation and further highlights what honest , hard working Nigerians suffer when they do business internationally, because these people believe they can take us for a ride”
Another source revealed, “ in effect, what this Order translates to is that it is illegal for anybody to sell the TM Lewin brand in Nigeria until the court determines the rightful owner of the franchise. This is indeed a sad development and it should not have been allowed to deteriorate to this level.”
In London, Lagos, and Ghana, sources revealed that Nigerians are infuriated by the shabby treatment meted out to Mr Dele Awosika, who built the TM Lewin brand from scratch among Nigerians in London and Nigeria and are re- thinking their loyalty to the brand.
The background to how TM Lewin came to Nigeria and eventually became the number one shirt brand for the yuppie and moneyed professionals in Nigeria is the stuff of which legends are made. According to inside sources in 1997/98, Mr Dele Awosika , studying for his masters degree in London, had chanced upon a TM Lewin shop which had a sales promotion running; shirts which normally sold for 79 british pounds where going for 25 pounds for four.
A shirt lover, Dele who had made extra money during his undergraduate days in Nigeria selling shirts to friends and associates, and he bought four shirts from the TM Lewin store . His flatmates demanded he buy for them too out of which Dele made a tidy profit going back to the store a couple of times which attracted the attention of a sales attendant who advised he visit there premier shop so he could receive better discounts. Which he did.
In the year 2000, our source further revealed, the business relationship continued and flourished and Mr Awosika was introduced to many members of the T.M Lewin team especially key staff such as Mr Geoff Quinn, Mr Costa Procopi and many other team members. Several meetings were had and most of the T.M Lewin team knew of his unique positioning and access to the Nigerian community in the United Kingdom.
He further introduced his brother in law (Akin Ajibola) to the Lewin team and they offered to introduce the brand to Nigerians in the UK by requesting promotional evenings and parties at the Jermyn Street stores to create and generate awareness and interest amongst Nigerians in the UK as well.
A whole sartorial education of neck sizes, sleeve lengths and other technical nuances were communicated to this customer group at our inquest. These evenings were quite successful not only through immediate visibility but also in impact as the brand was spoken about in and amongst the Nigerian community in London in positive tones.
According to our source, In June 2000, a very elaborate event to formally introduce T.M Lewin as a brand to the Nigerian public was planned. They helped in acquiring Visa’s, and made all necessary arrangements for the TM Lewin personnel to have a pleasant experience and stay in Nigeria.
They contacted the British High Commission who played hosts to both Mr Isaac and Mr Lucia and invited several British High Commission officers including the then ‘British High Commissioner’ Sir Graham Burton as Special Guest, Mr Awosika and partners, industry sources revealed, individually invited over 2000 (Two Thousand) A list guests which comprised of captains of industry, Business Executives, Top Professionals, and the political class.
The then Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Nigerian High Commissioner to London ,Prince Bola Ajibola, SAN, were among a throng of dignitaries at this launch event which was held at the prestigious Muson Centre in Lagos.
This event allowed them showcase T.M Lewin shirts, ties, and other products to the Nigerian community and the attendance of all the dignitaries, celebrities, political class, business leaders and the press endorsed the brand in the mind and eyes of Nigerians.
According to our source, all the products, costs of events, marketing and promotion were borne entirely by Equipoise Nigeria Ltd at that time with TM Lewin and Sons making no monetary contribution to any of this initiatives apart from their travel and hotel expenses. Sources also revealed that at no time did the London Company invest one naira in advertising or sponsorship to promote the brand in Nigeria
Haven registered T.M Lewin Nigeria Limited, they set out with the serious business of Shop opening and retailing T.M Lewin products in Nigeria with the first store opening on No 160 Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos. There was great publicity and fanfare to this initial store opening and they had the representative of T.M Lewin in attendance to endorse and send the serious message of collaboration.
They follow with shops in Silver bird Galleria, Kofo Abayomi, two stores at the E-Centre, Yaba, GRA Ikeja, Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall in Suru Lere, one shop in Abuja and three shops in Ghana all fully paid for.
Equipoise we were informed, invested heavily in local training and sent in excess of 12 key staff to the United Kingdom to work in various department of T.M Lewin to understand the culture, ethos and tradition of T.M Lewin and come back to train other staff members in Nigeria.
According to industry sources Mr Awosika and partners discovered that their local marketing enhanced the brands perception further and brought unprecedented awareness, interest and desire to the brand T.M Lewin.
They were approached by lots of Nigerians who wanted to open T.M Lewin stores as well which they discouraged as they had set plans to replicate the UK model of opening several stores to the highest standard but as had been previously agreed allow them purchase ‘bulk purchases’ where they would earn at least a £3 margin on each item.
T.M Lewin agreed to do this but always breached this agreement and seldom communicated who was purchasing from Nigeria. This attitude of disrespect and lack of honour, industry sources said, planted a seed of distrust and was protested in many meetings and correspondence but nothing came out of it.
According to inside sources, the issue escalated and as Mr Awosika and his team engaged in many positive initiatives of opening stores and promoting the Lewin brand in Nigeria, the demand for Lewin grew and traders took advantage of the popularity created at home in Nigeria to buy T.M Lewin products in great commercial quantity and erode their effort in Nigeria with all sorts of retail practices detrimental to the brand.
According to a survey by Price Waterhouse Cooper, in 2010, the wholesale market, for TM Lewin in a few years, thanks to the effort of Mr. Awosika and his team grew to 25 Million British pounds annually from next to nothing when they started.
To their surprise in 2006, sources revealed, TM Lewin opened a central London warehouse arrangement specifically for bulk purchases and started selling to Nigerians thereby systematically eroding their effort in Nigeria.
This business unit drove completely against their agreement and joint vision. It created an ‘all comers’ market and to further demonstrate the dishonor amongst T.M Lewin, they began to soliciting Mr Awosika’s friends, ex staff to come and purchase Lewin products to compete against him in Nigeria. As a matter of fact and to his shock, some of his ex staffs were contacted and they were cajoled to provide names of potential customers they could sell to in Nigeria.
Sources further revealed that Mr Dele Awosika and his team also solely exposed the brand through strategic promotions and sponsorships which include donating to the Kanu Heart foundation in2004, kitting out all participants on the Debaters show over a whole period of TV shows, the Outfitters to HITV who aired the English premier league for 3 years, collaboration with Virgin Atlantic and British Airways in Nigeria, Annual donations to the Motherless Babies homes through Christmas Cards all through and for the brand TM Lewin. All at their own expense.
The matter is of further concern to brand watchers because TM Lewin, London also breached their contract with EQUIPOISE Limited severally even in their Ghana operations where as in Nigeria they pioneered and developed the brand only for the TM Lewin guys to come in to skim the cream. That, we hear is the subject of another court case in London in the weeks ahead.
The matter has generated keen interest in fashion circles and among brand watchers in Nigeria and overseas. Which every way it swings, it’s the TM Lewin brand that will suffer. The substantive suit continues in Lagos.
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