Designer of office computer dies

The Lyons Electronic Office

Many people mistakenly assume that the first computer used for business purposes must have been deployed in the US. But, actually it was a computer called the Lyons Electronic Office, or LEO for short. It was developed by the British company J. Lyons and Co. to automate much of their clerical work. Lyons wasn't an engineering firm or an aerospace company, instead it baked cakes and pastries and ran a nationwide franchise of tea shops - very English.
    One of the designers of LEO has died, aged 89, and there is an informative obituary in the Guardian newspaper. The story of how a company that ran tea shops decided to build their own computer in 1947 and ended up creating one of Britain's first computing companies is a fascinating one, which is described in chapter 5 "Computers and Big Business" of The Universal Machine. This promotional film describes how Leo was built and operated.

LEO - the automatic office (1957)

Whilst on the subject of the Lyons Electronic Office and its 60th birthday I came across this great archive video. It's a promotional video for Leo made in 1957. Yes the British were advertising office computers in 1957! It's a really wonderful look back into a different age.

LEO celebrating the pioneers

Google's blog features a great article on LEO that includes a very interesting video, which interviews some of the people who developed and used LEO.

LEO Celebrating the Pioneers

LEO - worlds first business computer turns 60

LEO

The Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) is 60 years today. Commissioned by J. Lyons &Co., the once famous UK company that ran a nationwide chain of tea shops, LEO was first used in 1951 to calculate how much it cost to bake and distribute cakes. This was the first commercial use of a computer. The American Airlines ticketing system, which became SABRE, didn't go live until 1960. In fact in 1956, Lyons started doing payroll calculations for Ford UK using LEO's spare capacity; so they also invented IT outsourcing.  The Leo Computer Society maintains an interesting archive on this great British first!