I’ve made a discovery and it’s really quite a special one… it’s Smyth & Gibson.

‘Smyth and who?’ you ask. I’d better rewind a little. I love stripy shirts and would often spend many hours perusing the shelves of shirt shops looking for the bold lined beauties. Now here’s the challenge, between you and me I’m a bit of a funny shape. As most shirts I try on seem to be designed to fit the lovechild of Peter Crouch and Mr Tickle, I could feel a little more relaxed about shopping.

Then the discovery.

It came in the form of a made to measure shirt. I must say my first shirt was a treat. I’ve never had a made to measure anything so I didn’t really understand how wonderful it would be to have something created just for me. But it wasn’t just the shirt, there was something else.

Smyth & Gibson who made the shirt are brilliant – it’s official (and I should know I wrote a book on it). It’s not just the fabric, the cut, the finish, the packaging or the amazing service; it’s the whole experience of buying a shirt from these people. The experience is brilliant and that’s before I’d even tried it on.

When you fasten the buttons on a shirt that fits (and I mean really fits) another rather special thing happens. People make comments along the lines of, ‘Nice shirt’, ‘Oh that shirt is lovely, Michael’ and my absolute favourite, ‘Have you lost weight?’

I think most wearers would be happy to leave it there and enjoy their new apparel. But I’m not most people. I like to find out why things work and how brilliance happens. I had to find out more about this company and made it a mission to discover the secret of the Smyth & Gibson shirt.

After a bit of digging I managed to talk to the founder of the company Richard Gibson who, as well as being ridiculously modest, shared with me some of the behind the scenes secrets of their success.

Here are a couple of ‘stats’. As you read I’d like you to think ‘How can I apply that to what I do?’

	Up to 15 people are involved with the manufacture of each shirt.

	Smyth & Gibson are the last traditional shirt maker of this type in Britain.

	Each shirt comes with a 20 year construction guarantee.

	Every shirt is cut and stitched so that any stripes match perfectly.

Take a moment to look at each one of those facts in a little more detail.

	15 people are involved making a shirt because they have specialists in every area; from attaching collars to creating cuffs.

	They are the last in Britain because they are thriving.

	A 20 year guarantee! Most shirts wouldn’t be guaranteed for a month – that’s confidence in your goods.

	When Richard Gibson told me about ‘matching stripes’ I thought he was going a little bit too far. He explained that they cut and stitched every shirt so stripes and patterns between, for example, the shoulder and arm or the edge of a collar matched perfectly. When I asked who actually noticed this he simply replied, ‘We do’.

Their brilliance starts with their incredibly high internal standards long before they even talk to a customer. Does yours?

I think this deep tradition, attention to detail and desire to create the very best product are the foundations of what makes Smyth & Gibson the very best at what they do.

Now you’ve read this far I’m sure you’re ready for the challenge.

	What makes you the best at what you do?
	What’s you’re equivalent of the perfectly matched stripe?
	What’s your total confidence guarantee?

There’s never been a more important time to be the very best you can be. It’s time to raise your game, step up and be brilliant!

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