John Hitchcock’s new shop is hair-splittingly close to his old one. It has the same area postcode, sits in the same grid of the London A-Z street map and is less than a minute’s walk away. The crucial difference is the street name. For 99 years, Anderson & Sheppard, Mr Hitchcock’s bespoke- tailoring firm, was on Savile Row. When its lease expired in March, one of the biggest names on the street of suit-makers was forced to leave.

His old premises have been largely smashed up in preparation for redevelopment and, as Mr Hitchcock looks over at the rubble and builders’ trucks, some wistfulness is only too easy to detect. “We were all very upset at having to move,” he says. “And we may still go back one day.” Although, as he admits, that is a remote possibility: Pollen Estate, the landlord, has divided the site into units too small to accommodate most bespoke tailors. The remainder will be plush shops and smart offices.