Iconic companies Archives - Page 9 of 9

Bill Ellis

Bill Ellis started work in the IT industry in BTM, before it merged to form ICT. He supported clients through the adoption of new systems. He worked with insurance companies for ICT and ICL, competing against IBM, the dominant vendor. He moved to the start-up Software Sciences which and helped build it into a £100 million-turnover company with 2,000 people. Bill was on the council of the Computing Services Association for six years.

1 August 2017

Sir Peter Gershon

Graduating from Cambridge with a First in mathematics was a perfect start to an accelerated graduate career which brought Peter to the board of ICL. This was a springboard for Peter to move to the board of GEC and ultimately as the first Chief Executive of Government Commerce where he worked to identify where the government could save £6bn, which he did in 2003 producing the Gershon Review in 2005.

1 August 2017

Ninian Eadie

Ninian Eadie spent most of his career in the IT industry in ICL after working for LEO Computers and the Post Office. He saw the good times and the bad in ICL as it gained traction after he joined it in 1969. He ran ICL’s European business which, at its height, had about 7% of the Europe’s IT market outside the UK. He was in charge of successfully selling off many of the companies ICL disposed of as it shrank.

28 July 2017

Sir Peter Bonfield

Sir Peter Bonfield worked in the electronics component, computing and telecommunications sides of IT. He was invited in 1981 to become operations manager of ICL, the state-owned computer company rapidly running out of cash designing a new range of mainframes. In 1984 ICL was taken over by STC and Sir Peter became MD. In 1996 Sir Peter moved to BT and helped to lead it through a transformation from a utility company into a growth company

14 July 2017

John Leighfield CBE

John Leighfield CBE was a pioneering IT user, applying the technology offered by vendors to the benefit of users, particularly in manufacturing. He started in IT with Ford in Dagenham in what would now be called systems analysis. He joined Plessey in 1965 and was on the board of Plessey as the head of IT. John moved to British Leyland in 1972, working in BL Systems, later renamed as ISTEL. It was privatised and John and others succeeded in a management buyout.

14 July 2017

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Bill Ellis

Philip Hughes CBE

Sir Peter Gershon

Ninian Eadie

Sir Peter Bonfield

John Leighfield CBE