My father, Ralph Land, who has died aged 97, was, with his twin brother, Frank, part of the pioneering team that built and commercialised the Lyons Electronic Office (Leo), the world’s first business computer, in the 1950s. Ralph went on to develop markets for computers and photocopiers, first in the UK, then overseas.
From 1964 his innovation and determination secured business from government and state enterprises in the Soviet bloc, first for English Electric Leo Marconi, then ICL and finally Rank Xerox. The subsequent Soviet collapse in the 1990s opened new opportunities for Ralph as leader of the Russo-British and other trade councils, adviser to firms and government, and commentator on post-Soviet Russia and eastern Europe.
