MA BSc FCIS FIOM
1907–1976
Role: Chief Assistant Comptroller
Responsibility: Helped create the Standingford/Thompson report which sparked LEO
Thomas Raymond Thompson (known as TRT within the company) was a mathematics graduate who was recruited to join Simmons at Lyons in 1931. He had risen to be Chief Assistant Comptroller by 1946, when he was sent on the mission to the USA which resulted in the famous Standingford/Thompson report suggesting that computers could be useful for business purposes.
When LEO Computers Limited was established in 1954, TRT, who was known for his problem-solving abilities, was appointed to a role that made him effectively Chief Executive. He was John Simmons’ righthand man for more than 20 years, playing a key part in the success of LEO, before leaving to join companies such as BP as a computer advisor.
Biographies – The Centre of Computing History, The Guardian