A few people e-mailed me in the last few days, asking me to defend the accusations a former colleague, Mr Darren Beaman, recently made against me on the Ask Andy website.

Mr. Beaman certainly is entitled to his opinion. I have my own opinion about him as well, which I'd rather keep to myself. Suffice to say:

1. On my website I have documented & linked to all my past employers and business partners, who all can easily be contacted if you have any questions about my work. Mr Beaman hasn't done the same on his.

Savile Row is only a few minute's walk in length. It's a small world. Plenty know me and will be glad to talk. Ask away.

2. According to Mr Beaman, I was not an able cutter when we both worked at Anderson & Sheppard together. If that were true, then why would I, the youngest cutter at A&S at the time, be allowed to cut for their most valued customer, HRH Prince Charles?

If I were a bad cutter, then why at the same time was I also cutting the suits of A&S's then Managing Director, Norman Halsey? Mr Halsey had been at Anderson’s for decades. I’m sure he had a fair idea of who could cut a coat well. It simply doesn't make sense.

3. Mr Beaman also repeatedly commented on the Ask Andy that A&S are not generally well rated on Savile Row. This I find utterly peculiar, for two reasons:

A. When establishing credibilty on his website, he cites A&S as his main reference. But on Ask Andy, he tells people that A&S are not rated on the Row.

B. Nobody who matters on Savile Row would deny that A&S is still far and away the most successful and repected tailors in the business.

It's like saying Aston Martin don't make nice cars. Yes, you can certainly say that, freedom of speech and all, by why would somebody, who wanted to be taken seriously by the automobile fraternity, somehow think they'd never be called on it? Again, it defies all logic.

4. While I was at A&S, Mr Beaman was primarily an alteration tailor. But he was never an actual cutter, at A&S or any other company on The Row since, that I know of. In 1993, while I was there, he was sacked from his job for reasons of behavior I'd rather not talk about (and neither would he, most likely), but others on The Row probably will, if you asked around. Feel free.

On his website, he said he left. He did not leave. He was fired. On my website, I said I left A&S. That is true. Also, unlike Darren, I was also offered a large pay rise to stay, which I declined.

5. In the past, when I ran into Mr Beaman on the Row, he was always friendly, charming, and asking after my health. Quite unlike his posting on Ask Andy. Again, this is puzzling.

6. I won't speak of my professional opinion of Mr Beaman, but I will say that some very well-respected friends of mine on the Row do not rate him highly. This would be confirmed by what I think are Mr Beaman's rather mysterious departures from various companies and premises over the last few years, including his recent departure from John Kent. Again, he doesn't speak of this on his website.

7. Mr Beaman calls himself a 'Savile Row' tailor. Granted, Savile Row may be the home of tailoring, but the address he gives on his website, 12 Savile Row, is actually not a bespoke tailor's, but the address of a cloth merchant, Scabal. Also, his contact telephone number is only a mobile/cell number. It is not a land line.

8. On his website, he said:

Darren has worked in Savile Row for 23 years, beginning as a 15-year-old apprentice with the renowned tailoring house Anderson & Sheppard. Devoted from the beginning to learning and excelling at his craft, he was marked out from his earliest days as possessing that 'je ne sais quoi' - a tailor's eye, a feel for fabric, and an ability to communicate effectively with a client - that distinguishes the most masterful and respected tailors from their peers.

Yes, Darren was a good tailor. But he was primarily an alterations tailor, he was never an A&S cutter. He certainly was never thought of a "master tailor", nor thought of as "distinguished from his peers".

An alterations tailor is never allowed to deal with customers, unless being invited by the cutter under very rare circumstances. Nor was the prospect of Darren ever being let into the front shop as a cutter ever considered an option for the future, even before the unfortunate behavior which led directly to his sacking. Yes, I have spoken to a former director who will back me up on this.

9. He says on his website that he worked on the suits of HRH Prince Charles. Yes, he did. As the alterations tailor. Under me. I was the cutter. I dealt directly with The Prince. Darren never met him.

10. I am quite willing to stake my entire reputation on the good name of Anderson & Sheppard, even though I am no longer working for them. Of all the firms, they are the best, and they've have been that way for many years.

And yes, unlike Mr Beaman's and his former employers, I remain in constant touch with them. In fact, Alan Pitt, a director of A&S stayed the weekend here at Warwick Hall just before Christmas. And Alan's work number is easy enough to find [in fact, here it is], should anyone wish to know more about my relationship with them, or my abilities as a Savile Row tailor.

What's interesting to me about this unfortunate incident is not my name being attacked. My work speaks for itself, and I can quite happily live or die by my reputation.

What is curious to me is that a person of Mr Beaman's sadly less-than-stellar reputation in the trade could think he could set himself up as any kind of authority on the subject, and somehow not be found out. As I've said before, Savile Row is a small place. Still, most tailors are not very clued up on the internet, so Darren was able to keep a near monopoly on the online conversation.

I shall say no more about this again. I have my work, Darren has his. I wish him well.

[UPDATE:] Within minutes of posting this, Mr Beaman leaves an apology on EnglishCut. I posted a reply.