Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was one of the largest and most profitable computer companies in the world, known for its modules, its PDP and VAX families of computers and the Alpha microprocessor. Its UK arm started in Reading in 1965.
The world’s first computer used for business purposes was the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO). Begun by the company J. Lyons & Co Ltd, who believed that automation was the answer to efficiency, this innovation began the understanding that businesses could use a computer.
English Electric began to make computers in the 1950s. Their 1955 model ‘Deuce’ was one of the first commercially available computers. As time went on, English Electric acquired other companies, including LEO. Find out more about them in this article.
ICL was formed in 1968, combining companies International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), English Electric Leo Marconi and others. Find out more about its fate in this in-depth analysis.
The origins of ARM go back to 1983 and Acorn Computers, creator of one of the first RISC processors used in microcomputers. Find out more about the history of these companies through our oral history interviews.