Cubitts opens King’s Cross hub on site of Victorian stables

Cubitts has opened a major new hub in King’s Cross, marking the latest chapter of the trendy spectacle maker’s expansion.

The London-based business, which first opened its doors in 2012 and has made bespoke glasses for the likes of Idris Elba, Ryan Reynolds, Madonna and Cynthia Erivo, has taken up a 13,000 square foot lease on the site of an old Victoria stables, which will serve as its global headquarters.

The site, which will be occupied by around 50 staff with room to as much as double the headcount over the next three years, will also house an optical manufacturing facility as well as serving as a training academy.

Cubitts founder Tom Broughton said he opted for the central London location for the facility despite the higher costs.

“For me, the whole point of doing this is to bring what we’re doing closer to the customer,” Broughton told City PM. “And if we’re doing it for the customers it feels like a bit of a stretch to ask somebody to go to zone nine.

“I also think there’s a kind of romance to it because this was originally very much part of a working King’s Cross industrial base…I like the nostalgia of reviving that.”

The company posted a near-£1m loss as it counted the investment costs of setting up its first stores in the US, which it said was “neither unexpected nor particularly enjoyable, but it was an important step in building Cubitts into the business we intend it to become.”

Costs of setting up across the pond pushed the eyewear designer to a loss of £967,000 for the year to end March 2025, compared to roughly breaking even the year before, while revenue rose 15 per cent to £16.8m.

Following the success of the US expansion, which has seen the New York stores grow at a faster rate than their London counterparts, Cubitts will shortly open its doors in Ireland and has set its sights on expansion to Japan, potentially via a joint venture with a local business.

“We’re going to grow the business internationally, but we’re doing it in a slightly different way than we’ve done in the UK, which has been very retail heavy and very capital intensive,” Broughton said.

“I love stores but they’re also challenging, particularly when you know you’re losing rates relief, insurance changes, living wage and minimum wage changes. Stores are getting more and more expensive to operate…we’re already kind of at breaking point.”