Top 10 Eyewear Manufacturers in the UK

Are you looking for top eyewear manufacturers in the UK? Look no further!  This blog post showcases some of the most popular players in the United Kingdom Eyewear space. The companies manufacture and supply a wide range of eyewear items and accessories worn over the eye for fashion, protection, and medical issue.  These include glasses, also known as eyeglasses or spectacles and sunglasses.

The glasses manufacturer UK below makes and sells their eyewear items, unlike generic optical stores or retailers who sell top brands worldwide.  The British eyewear design is in high demand worldwide due to the manufacturer's impeccable craftsmanship, UK-made brands aesthetic and ethic, attention to details and other quintessentially British values in glasses manufacturing.

Top 10 eyewear manufacturers UK

Optoplast Actman Eyewear

Optoplast eyewear UK is all about passion, innovation, and creativity. The company was established in 1946 and had been manufacturing glasses in the United Kingdom for seven decades.  Optoplast uses the latest innovation and design, has been a top player in the eyeglass industry.

In 2009, the company merged with Andrew Actman to create Optoplast Actman Eyewear Co. Ltd, bringing years of expertise in the optical industry. The company adapted the invention of the PIMO machine in 1951 that brought a new level of precision to the optical sector. Today, Optoplast Actman Eyewear uses the latest CAD technology and 3D prototyping to create every boundary.

The 120,000 sq ft factory based in Liverpool, United Kingdom, is a UKAS accredited testing laboratory. It's the home to over 150 dedicated staff.  This enables the manufacture to monitor and standardize its eyewear production for a competitive edge.

In 2014 the company began to manufacture frames in England and later launched Walter & Herbert (made in UK eyewear) in 2015.

Optoplast eyewear UK handed down through 3 generations. The eyeglass manufacturer remains a family business to date.  It prides its manufacturing on inspirational designs, attention to every detail, and commitment to the highest quality and attention.

You can view the Walter & Herbert Eyewear at Optoplast showroom on Monmouth St, UK.

Banton Frameworks

Banton Frameworks is an eyewear manufacturing company based in Kilsyth, Glasgow, UK.   The company specializes in high-quality glasses frames designed and made through 3D modeling, prototyping, and manufacturing processes.

Starting in 2012, Banton Frameworks features two Optometry specialists, Lucy Ross & Jamie Bartlett. The two studied and graduated from studied at Glasgow Caledonian University. Having studied product design, the dual invested in various machines, tools, and components to design and manufacture eyewear such as spectacles and sunglasses frames on-site.

The United Kingdom once made 5+ million eyewear a year, from a sector made up of 1000+ eyewear factories. Only a few of those manufacturers remains active today, with one of them being Banton Frameworks.  The factory is among the top spectacle frame suppliers in the UK. 

In addition to advanced eyewear technology, Banton Frameworks uses high-quality material outsourced from some of the best acetate suppliers in Europe.  Also, the glasses manufacturer has partnered with Amersham England (ISO 9001 qualification), a trusted lens maker.

Banton Frameworks ships eyewear made in the UK all over the world.

Savile Row

Savile Row Eyewear is a specialized artisan maker of eyewear products in the UK.  The company factory situated at Algha Works on Smeed Road in   London has been operational since 1932. Over the years, this 122-year-old company has invested in the latest technology in eyewear production, preserving the historic style favored by icons of the British style and culture.

In 2021, Savile Row rolled out the production of an improved 18K rolled gold eyewear brand.  In the same period, the eyewear manufacturer acquired Norville, another icon of British heritage manufacturing. The factory makes specialty eyewear lenses of the highest caliber.

The two brands merged and integrated to manufacture the ultimate luxury bespoke frame and lens packages successfully.  The company has over 1.5 million customers a year, with 150 employees in the factory.

Retailers and dealers can order Savile Row eyewear and spare parts through their websites.  The manufacturer offers the best after-sales services to dealers all over the world.

BBGR    

BBGR is one of the leading eyewear manufacturers in the UK.  The company specializes in lens manufacturing that serves the more significant part of Europe.    The international lens manufacturer is located in the United Kingdom but has a plant situated in Provins is Europe's most considerable lens production and development facility.

BBGR has a substantial product range, dating as early as 1846, and offers opticians a wide range of innovative optical products.  Today, the BBGR has over 30 million customers worldwide as a result of leading innovation and development.

The company has been operating through its vision "to design and deliver lenses and coatings that improve the lives of the people who wear them." Working with tons of partners and in the eyewear industry UK, the company makes the vision a reality each day.

BBGR eyewear is manufactured at several sites. Suzanne, a facility in the UK, produces semi-finished organic lenses, while Provins in France manufacturers' prescription lenses, mores specialized in the digital surfacing. Also, in the UK, the company grazing lab in Birmingham hosts highly-skilled steam of glazer's edge and assembles all work.

\The glasses manufacturer is certified- ISO 9001:2008, and champions strictly defined working methods that check each lens production at every stage of manufacture.  It uses EyeMio, a digital service that enhances business offerings and Eyestation (dispensing tool) worldwide.

Wolf Eyewear

Wolf Eyewear is a UK glasses manufacturer that creates high-quality and innovative glasses frames.  The company, founded in 2009, supplies independent opticians across the UK   and Europe.  Its frames are known to reveal your wild side in uniquely bold, beautiful, and colorful frames.

The factory based in Ledburn, Leighton Buzzard, UK, has over 180 staff and uses some of the latest eyewear manufacturing technology in Europe.

Today, Wolf Eyewear is a standout brand backed by a growing and diverse range of eyewear materials, styles, and an international audience for the fashion-conscious.  Moreover, the manufacturer brings unique designs and superior quality to the market at an affordable price.

As the top sunglasses manufacturer, Wolf Eyewear sunglasses are made for the prescription market. They pose sprung temples and adjustability in addition to CAT 3 UV400 lenses and can be worn straight for the dealer's shelf.

The glasses manufacturer has also kickstand an all-in-one glazing service, where suppliers and dealers can get prescription frames to their customers quicker.  This new service reduces the lead time and product postage costs by providing suitable services at a highly competitive price.

You can become a Wolf eyewear stockist and sell their unique brands through their website.

Premiere Optical

Premiere Optical has been in the eyewear business of over 50 Years of Hand-made Spectacles. The manufacturer champions hand-made bespoke and custom-made spectacles in the UK. All over the world, the demand for unique one-off custom glasses frames and other eyewear has been high, along with demand for limited ranges of frames.

Today Premiere Optical, manufacturer Hand-made, bespoke glasses made in the UK by experienced craftsmen & women. At the company, "handmade" means handmade!  The Handmade are rare for their design and also for their genuinely hand-made bespoke quality.

The Premiere Optical factory is located at 104 Oxford Road, Clacton-On-Sea, Essex, CO15 3TH, UK.  Built-in the 1940s, its first workshop pride a three-generation family-run business, the only British factory that provides truly "Hand-made in England" eyewear. You can bet on over 50 years of experience.

Premiere optical has a skilled team of craftsmen who can make any eyewear dealer or retailer design dreams reality! You can factory order over 1000 different color acetates available, and tinting options, the colorways available are endless.

Apollo Optical

Apollo Optical is a family business with over 80 years of experience in the UK eyewear manufacturing industry. The company provides a mixture of lens surfacing, dispensing, re-glazing, and the latest in frame fashion.

The manufacture is situated in Ringwood, Hampshire, and has a showroom with a large selection of frames and a laboratory where all lenses are glazed on-site, whether to your frame or one that you choose from our gallery.

It's one of the best companies for surfacing and 3D glazing/drilling using the most advanced Laboratory machines into frames or customers' own choice.

Apollo optical offers different sunglasses designs with many tints, mirror tints, transitions, and polarized lenses as the best custom sunglasses manufacturers.

You can contact the Spectacles, lenses & frames manufacturers via their UK website.

Dunelm Optical

Dunelm Optical is one of those serious companies dedicated to maintaining product quality regardless of the passing of time. And this is because this family found business has its values strongly based on a family tradition. Quality comes first.

The company was founded in 1969, as a small manufacturer that grew at a fast pace. Since then, the company kept producing high-quality frames, lenses, and optical accessories, following the industry trends and maintaining the golden middle between what the market wanted and what their company values represent.

Each one of their products comes as a result of well-studied features: colors, materials, shapes, trends, and sure the combination possibilities. Skilled designers draw and manufacture models that hardly go out of fashion. Designs that are pleasing to the eye and your face.

With a factory based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, where production happens, and headquarters located in Durham, Dunelm Optical’s staff is composed of people who love what they do. This is thanks to the culture built within the company. It’s what has made employees stay for 10 to 40 years and even more at the same position.

The company is well-established in the market, and exports to over 60 countries around the world. The effectiveness of their products is checked by over 4,500 opticians. Also, they offer online ordering on their website. Check it down there:

Red Eyewear Ltd

Red Eyewear has been designing & manufacturing eyewear since 2010 in the UK. The British eye manufacturer design and manufacture sunglasses and optical collections for world-renowned and trusted retailers in the UK and worldwide. They also provide trend focus and dynamic management with a personal approach to ensure clients always enjoy working with the factory and are repeatedly delighted with the results.

The London-based manufacture, experienced, driven, and exciting design team aims to create the perfect range of sunglasses and optical frames for customers.

 Red Eyewear constantly researches and reassesses the market, immersing in the latest trends from various sources. This thorough trend analysis and substantial market expertise mean the factory can provide you with a completely individual design service exclusively tailored to your needs.

With this level of experience in the UK, combined with a 13-strong QC team monitoring production in the factories, Red EYEWEAR guarantees you and your customers will be in very safe hands. The company is affiliated with the British Standards Institute Working Group, which developed the latest ISO Sunglasses Standard, and we remain active members of the BSI.

Also, the manufacturer exceeds all relevant Standards, and our factories are independently audited to the ETI base code (and its customers' high standards).

Fan Optics

The eyewear manufacturer designs the glasses in Holland but manufactures them in the UK.  Fan optics is known for hand-made funky retro-inspired designs that look very striking.

The company tops among the UK sunglasses manufacturer, designing and producing optical sunglass frames handmade in England.  Fan Optical provide retailer and distributors of UK-made eyewear with a wide range of products with superior quality.

Fan optical can be defined as an OEM manufacturer that offers eyewear sellers product design, packaging, logistics, and additional services.

The sunglasses manufacturer in the UK has over 10 years of experience in eyewear manufacturing, working closely with customers from different countries.  Moreover, the factory supplies eye products under different national standards such as international standards (ISO2870:2014) and European Standards (EN1836:2005; REACH).

The manufacturer has a strong R&D team that develops large quantities of new samples every month to support customers having competitive products in the market

Conclusion

I hope the list above of the top 10 eyewear manufacturers in the UK solves your needs for glasses outsourcing. 

The United Kingdom is a country famous for its technology and innovation. Leverage its eyewear industry for your business growth. When you outsource your eyewear suppliers from any of the above British manufacturers, you are assured of a constant supply of the best quality. Your eyewear items will be guaranteed only if you maintain them appropriately stored in your daily life.