| Honorific Prefix: | Sir |
| Noel Mobbs | |
| Birth Date: | 1878 |
| Birth Place: | Northampton, England |
| Death Date: | 1959 |
| Known For: | Founder of Slough Estates |
Sir Arthur Noel Mobbs (1878–1959) was the founder of Slough Estates, one of the United Kingdom's largest property businesses.[1] [2]
Brought up in Northampton, Mobbs was educated at Bedford Modern School.[3] Together with his brother, Herbert, he founded the Pytchley Autocar Company in 1903 to sell private vehicles: the business was later bought by Mercantile Credit.[4] Another of Noel's brothers, Edgar, was a well-known Rugby player and Captain of the England team in 1910.[5]
In 1920, Noel Mobbs and Sir Percival Perry acquired Slough Depot, a vehicle park where thousands of disused military vehicles had been abandoned.[4] They sold the vehicles and converted the factories and let them out for industrial use, so establishing the Slough Trading Estate.[4]
Mobbs was also keen to establish sporting and social facilities for the people of Slough and in 1928 he bought Stoke Park Golf Club for £30,000 and reformed it.[6] He also established the Stoke Poges Memorial Gardens which are open to the public[7] as well as the Slough Community Centre which opened in 1936.[6]
Mobbs had financed the R Malcolm & Co aircraft component company and in 1943 took control with himself as managing director and Marcel Lobelle as chief designer. Lobelle became a director and the company was renamed ML Aviation after their initials.[8]
He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order in 1948.
Mobbs was an avid bridge player[4] and in 1950, he chaired the British Bridge League.[9] He died in Bournemouth in 1959.[4]
He married Frances.[4] His grandson was Nigel Mobbs, a more recent chairman of Slough Estates.[10]