A 50-year history

It all started in 1973, and all our teams have played a part in our story ever since. From our workshops in Marchiennes to our factories in Calcutta and Ahmedabad India, LEBON has left its mark on the world of PPE. The LEBON Group is much more than just a family business, uniting teams across the world around a single theme: protecting people in the workplace.
“We provide solutions to protect workers around the world. We listen to our customers, respond to their requests and offer the best expertise through our teams. We manufacture a variety of products, use the latest technology and are environmentally and socially responsible. Our purpose lies in all these things. ”
Fabrice LEBON
Chairman

A family history

Our story began in Pecquencourt , northern France, in the family home of Gilbert and Jeannette LEBON, Fabrice LEBON's parents. Before them, Gilbert's father was a master tanner working on cowhide, sheep hide and exotic leathers. From this initial trade, Gilbert and Jeannette had an idea to create a new activity using this raw material. From then on, the idea was to create protective gloves for the industrial market.
This endeavour was pursued at an interesting time, because in the 1970s, following thirty years of sustained economic growth in France during the Trente Glorieuses, industry continued to thrive around a solid, local industrial hub employing thousands of people. There was an ever-growing desire to protect these workers and to introduce more regulations to ensure companies put appropriate measures in place. Although still in its infancy, the workplace PPE market had massive potential.
Family
A family business for the past 3 generations.
Passion
Pioneering innovation since 1973
Leather
Historical mastery of raw material
Innovation
Developing new products to meet the challenges of the future.
Environment
Protecting people, their health and their environment
Protection
Protecting workers from workplace accidents

The fundamentals of the company for the past 50 years

50 years of innovation
Innovation is an integral part of the product development process at LEBON. Our primary concern on a daily basis is to protect operators from the risks of workplace accidents. We also aim to develop efficient and innovative products that are suitable for every industrial sector. Our goal is to develop the products of tomorrow in a responsible and sustainable manner, based on the privileged relationship with our customers, maintained through the know-how acquired over many years of practice and research. Our teams are constantly developing products to make the workplace safer. In fact, our main aim as a business is to enable customers to work with optimal protection, setting ourselves the daily challenge of achieving "zero accidents".
50 years of Quality
When it comes to quality, LEBON's expertise is based on precision and consistency. In fact, quality is controlled beforehand in the factory, on our production machines through daily analyses. A sample is taken from every ten pairs of gloves, the quality of which is measured according to LEBON criteria. The measurements, materials, quality of thread used, coating, weight, thickness, as well as the colours and finishes... Everything is analysed. The final and most important point is how the glove is worn. It must have the qualities we expect of it: comfort, dexterity, strength and even breathability. All these things make a true LEBON glove — essential to meet LEBON's commitment to conformity and quality.
50 years of commitment
The LEBON Group has always been driven by a genuine commitment to CSR. The focus quickly shifted to certifications linked to social involvement and the environment. Being committed to a responsible approach also means having respectful production sites committed to continuous improvement. This is the case for LEBON's production units. As it happens, our four units are as environmentally friendly as possible to keep their carbon footprint to a minimum. Renewable energies have also contributed to this reduction, thanks to the installation of solar panels and water treatment systems. Our domestic and international development is a triumph built around human values. We have drawn on all our human, physical and material resources to build a promising, untroubled future.
LEBON expertise over the years
Since the turn of the millennium, the LEBON Group has geared its development towards new technologies. Our production tools have therefore evolved, enriched by technological innovations and LEBON’s know-how.

We have drawn on frontier technologies, adapting them to our teams’ vision to offer our customers increasingly efficient and innovative products. Our teams have mastered these tools and technologies to ensure they get the best out of them, in order to produce protective gloves of unrivalled quality and always at the cutting edge of technology.

“LEBON's expertise has been built on its 50 years of experience. Our employees come from all walks of life and backgrounds, possessing a wealth of knowledge and experience that greatly enriches our product development. It also improves our understanding of real needs, allowing us to meet them effectively. Our factory-based experience is another important factor; our managers stay and develop with us as we use new technologies, we develop our tools alongside them and we learn together. They are also developing their techniques. They adapt and we develop together, which is a real strength of ours. ”
Aurélien, Research and Development Manager
International growth
Group LEBON’s international growth is a permanent objective. Since 1999, several production sites have been created to meet the demand for gloves using increasingly advanced technologies. Hundreds of production staff have been recruited, under European conditions, and work very closely with the Research and Development department. We have been on this industrial journey for over 20 years, an adventure characterised by a real will to maintain our model over the long term.

Starting in 2000, when knitted gloves began to make their appearance, Lebon choose to manufacture in India, embarking on a joint venture one of the Group's historic partners. Since then, several production sites have been created to meet the demand for gloves using increasingly advanced technologies. Hundreds of production staff have been recruited, under French conditions, and work very closely with the Research and Development department. We have been on this industrial journey for more than 20 years, an adventure characterised by a real will to maintain the partnership over the long term

At the same time, it was decided to change the international approach by imagining one person per country to ensure that our products are prescribed consistently. LEBON now has a physical presence in 15 European countries and delivers to more than 35 countries worldwide.

50 years of industrial development

Leather gloves

The first products were imagined and designed in the Pecquencourt workshop by Gilbert LEBON. He created prototypes, tested them, produced them and then started all over again constantly. Jeannette LEBON would sew and assemble the gloves as instructed by her husband. A few years later, production began to increase with the presence of the first seamstresses.

During the 90s, priority was given to their technical, cut-resistant gloves, still using their labour-intensive “cut and sew” technology. The workshops continued to produce specific technical gloves, particularly for high-temperature work, and aluminised clothing.

Coated gloves

The turn of the century saw the emergence of “Palm fit” gloves, which originally came from Japan and were brand new to the market. A production unit was built with a soaking line for the production of soaked polyurethane gloves. From then on, it was unthinkable to pollute waterways and the environment and do harm to our production staff’s health while producing PU gloves. Which is how Clean PU® technology was born. A patented and responsible system. The first LEBON soaked gloves were produced and equipped with Clean PU® technology, the forefront of the company and the first major development in the market.

 

Industrial development continues to focus on the manufacture of products, and Active Sense, a range combining strength, durability and comfort, was created based on the Clean PU® coating. These gloves had greater abrasion resistance than your classic PU glove, representing a real breakthrough in the market.

Expanding also means preparing for the future, furthering the group’s growth by integrating new nitrile technologies into our products, with new product ranges being released in 2023.

A solid industrial policy

Since the company was founded, we have pursued a genuine industrial and development policy. This is what sets LEBON apart from our competitors and makes us a solid company. This success did not come without hard work. The keys to our success have always been to have the right products, at the right time and using the right tools, and, most importantly, to be surrounded by the best teams.

Our teams are the lifeblood of our company, drawing on their wide range of skills to help our company succeed. All of these people share a common goal: the group’s success. There is a real sense of cohesion between our teams across the world.