Threading carefully: Ageing customers, new rivals, skills shortages... The doyen of British bespoke tailoring faces many obstacles. Can it surmount them?

London's Savile Row, the home of British bespoke tailoring, is being challenged by new-fangled, high-tech selling and manufacturing methods, and sharp-cutting continental fashion house. The 160 year old Reid & Taylor has recently been taken over by Indian textile group S Kumars which has earmarked around 200,000 pounds sterling for updating the machinery. Bespoke tailors are having to update their services, and some have launched websites where laser-cut suits can be ordered online.