Leo Computers

Leo Computers was a British computer company, set up in 1954 as a subsidiary of Lyons, makers of the ground-breaking LEO computer, to sell more of them.

They built a new computer, the LEO II (the original LEO was retrospectively named 'LEO I'), of which 11 were sold, starting in 1957. They then moved on in 1962 to the LEO III, of which they sold 94.

In 1963, Lyons decided that Leo Computers, although successful, was ancillary to their main business focus, and would require the investment of a great deal of capital, so they decided to divest it. They merged Leo Computers with English Electric's computer business, forming English Electric Leo Computers (which Lyons exited in 1964).

Further reading

• Peter John Bird, LEO: The First Business Computer, Hasler Publishing, Wokingham, 1994
• David Caminer, Frank Land, John Aris, Peter Hermon, LEO: The Incredible Story of the World's First Business Computer, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997
• Georgina Ferry, A Computer Called LEO: Lyons Tea Shops and the World's First Office Computer, Fourth Estate, London, 2003

External links

• Computer Conservation Society - Our Computer Heritage Project
  • British companies delivering digital computers in the period 1950–1965
  • Leo Computers Ltd.
• English Electric Leo III Manuals and Papers
• ICL related Computer Items - includes a number of LEO boards