the nems' staff were also reportedly unhappy about the deal. the company had expanded rapidly growing from fifteen staff in 1964 to eighty in 1966. epstein had taken over the vic lewis agency in 1965 (bringing in donovan, petula clark and matt monro) and lewis became a nems director, but many staff members found lewis' abrasive manner difficult to handle. according to gunby: "...(they) could see the same problems arising, multiplied tenfold, when stigwood moved in. his autocratic style would be a time bomb ticking beneath people who had stuck by epstein through thick and thin."