Dr Herbert Loebl, (18 April 192328 January 2013) was a British businessman, philanthropist and leading proponent of exporting, notable as a co-founder of Joyce, Loebl & Company, a manufacturer of

scientific instrument A scientific instrument is a device or tool used for scientific purposes, including the study of both natural phenomena and theoretical research. History Historically, the definition of a scientific instrument has varied, based on usage, laws, an ...

Early life

Herbert Loebl was born in Bamberg in

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, into a prominent local

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family. With the rise of the

Nazi party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

in Germany, the Loebl family fled persecution to the United Kingdom in late 1938 where he attended

Dover Grammar School for Boys Dover Grammar School for Boys (DGSB) is a selective secondary school located in Dover, United Kingdom, whose origins can be traced back to the Education Act (the 'Balfour Act') of 1902. Originally founded as the Dover County School for Boys a ...

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. He studied electrical engineering at King’s College, Newcastle where he graduated in 1949.

Joyce, Loebl & Company Ltd

During his time at King's College, Loebl met Captain Robert Joyce. In 1951, the two went into business producing scientific equipment with only £200 of capital. Joyce, Loebl & Co. exported over 70 percent of its products and at the time of its sale to Technical Operations Inc. (Tech/Ops), an American company, it was one of the major employers in north-eastern England with some 500 workers. It is estimated that the company also spawned 45 other businesses in the region. Some of the most significant products developed by Joyce, Loebl & Co were the optical microdensitometer used to visualise the properties of DNA and other organic compounds, and the MecoLab, a system of routine blood-panel analysis for hospitals. There are currently four companies which have grown out of the original Joyce, Loebl & Company Ltd: Loebl Ltd, Sevcon Ltd, Applied Imaging Ltd, and Phasor Ltd.

Philanthropy

A donation made by Hebert Loebl was used to set up a section of the business school of Newcastle University, focussed on the promotion of exports, which is named the ''Herbert Loebl Export Academy'' in his honour.

Awards

Loebl was awarded the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1973 for services to exports. He was also awarded the Citizen's Medal of the city of Bamberg in 1996, the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

(1997) and the

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

in 2001. In 2003, he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science by the University of Newcastle. In 2010, he was given a lifetime achievement award by the North East Business Executive.

References

Publications

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External links

The Herbert Loebl Archive
at Newcastle University's Philip Robinson Library, Special Collections
Guide to the Herbert Loebl Collection
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

Trauer um Dr. Herbert Loebl
at ''Bamberger Onlinezeitung'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Loebl, Herbert 1923 births 2013 deaths Alumni of King's College, Newcastle British businesspeople British electrical engineers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Dover Grammar School for Boys People from Bamberg Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany People associated with Newcastle University