{"id":4645,"date":"2023-03-31T18:50:29","date_gmt":"2023-03-31T17:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/?p=4645"},"modified":"2023-03-31T18:50:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T17:50:30","slug":"interviewee-mike-gifford","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/","title":{"rendered":"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Interviewee: Mike Gifford<\/u>                                                                 DOB: <\/strong>1936<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interviewer: <\/u><\/strong>Dag Spicer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Date of Interview: 30th<\/sup> September 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editors: <\/strong>Bob Marsh (P1) and Frank Land (p2) Nov 2017<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joined LEO: <\/strong>1959 or 1960<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Role in LEO:<\/strong> Started as temporary assistant at Minerva Road, then trained as consultant at Hartree House and rose rapidly working as consultant in a variety of locations including the Midlands, North West London ICL region. Finishing work with ICL as Chief Executive of ICL Australia for two and a half years, before leaving computer industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Left LEO\/ICL: <\/strong>1975<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract:<\/u><\/strong> After Grammar School education opted for National Service in Royal Navy before taking his place at University.  Seconded to work in Aircraft Carriers and specialised in meteorology.  Following two years National Service went to London School of Economics for a B.Sc. in Economics.  Greatly influenced by Karl Popper\u2019s ideas on Scientific Methods.  His father suggested looking for a job up in a rising industry \u2013 either computing or microbiology.  Selected computing and following an advertisement started a temporary job with LEO at Minerva Road. See above for role in LEO which included working as the LEO consultant with customers such as Cerebos Salt. Tote Investors, Eveready Batteries and Heinz and abroad the Czech steelworks. Identified early as potential high flyer by David Caminer. Following the merger with ICL he took charge of one of the major marketing regions. Following a number of senior appointments was Appointed Managing Director ICL Australia (1974).  After a successful two and a half years left the Computer Industry on appointment as Managing Director of the newly merged Cadbury Schweppes Australia Company.  More senior management positions followed back in the UK culminating in being appointed Chief Executive of the Rank Organisation, an enterprise he transformed from an ailing enterprise to be highly successful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Repository:<\/strong>http:\/\/www.computinghistory.org.uk\/det\/53392\/Mike-Gifford-Interview-30th-September-2017-53392\/<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright: <\/strong>LEO Computers Society<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restrictions<\/strong>:  None Known<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Interviewee: Mike Gifford                                                                 DOB: 1936 Interviewer: Dag Spicer Date of Interview: 30th September 2017 Editors: Bob Marsh (P1) and Frank Land (p2) Nov 2017 Joined LEO: 1959 or 1960 Role in LEO: Started as temporary assistant at Minerva Road, then trained as consultant at Hartree House and rose rapidly working as consultant in a variety of locations including the Midlands, North West […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-oral_histories"],"yoast_head":"\nInterviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Interviewee: Mike Gifford                                                                 DOB: 1936 Interviewer: Dag Spicer Date of Interview: 30th September 2017 Editors: Bob Marsh (P1) and Frank Land (p2) Nov 2017 Joined LEO: 1959 or 1960 Role in LEO: Started as temporary assistant at Minerva Road, then trained as consultant at Hartree House and rose rapidly working as consultant in a variety of locations including the Midlands, North West […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-31T17:50:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-31T17:50:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"LEO editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"LEO editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"LEO editor\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea535d902aa97c04183bdce5dfbab398\"},\"headline\":\"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-31T17:50:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-31T17:50:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":393,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Oral_Histories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/\",\"name\":\"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-31T17:50:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-31T17:50:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/interviewee-mike-gifford\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"LEO Computers Society\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"LEO Computers Socity\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/logo-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/logo-1.jpg\",\"width\":158,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"LEO Computers Socity\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/en.wikipedia.org\\\/wiki\\\/LEO_(computer)\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea535d902aa97c04183bdce5dfbab398\",\"name\":\"LEO editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/853b61b2912bf2bff06794431698f0a91708b2a683e55e992a6987cddf79ebaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/853b61b2912bf2bff06794431698f0a91708b2a683e55e992a6987cddf79ebaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/853b61b2912bf2bff06794431698f0a91708b2a683e55e992a6987cddf79ebaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"LEO editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\\\/leopedia.org\\\/author\\\/vince\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM","og_description":"Interviewee: Mike Gifford                                                                 DOB: 1936 Interviewer: Dag Spicer Date of Interview: 30th September 2017 Editors: Bob Marsh (P1) and Frank Land (p2) Nov 2017 Joined LEO: 1959 or 1960 Role in LEO: Started as temporary assistant at Minerva Road, then trained as consultant at Hartree House and rose rapidly working as consultant in a variety of locations including the Midlands, North West […]","og_url":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/","og_site_name":"LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM","article_published_time":"2023-03-31T17:50:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-31T17:50:30+00:00","author":"LEO editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"LEO editor","Estimated reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/"},"author":{"name":"LEO editor","@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ea535d902aa97c04183bdce5dfbab398"},"headline":"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0","datePublished":"2023-03-31T17:50:29+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-31T17:50:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/"},"wordCount":393,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Oral_Histories"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/","url":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/","name":"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - LEOPEDIA EDITORIAL SYSTEM","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-03-31T17:50:29+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-31T17:50:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/interviewee-mike-gifford\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Interviewee:\u00a0Mike Gifford\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/","name":"LEO Computers Society","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#organization","name":"LEO Computers Socity","url":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/logo-1.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/logo-1.jpg","width":158,"height":70,"caption":"LEO Computers Socity"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/LEO_(computer)"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/#\/schema\/person\/ea535d902aa97c04183bdce5dfbab398","name":"LEO editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/853b61b2912bf2bff06794431698f0a91708b2a683e55e992a6987cddf79ebaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/853b61b2912bf2bff06794431698f0a91708b2a683e55e992a6987cddf79ebaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/853b61b2912bf2bff06794431698f0a91708b2a683e55e992a6987cddf79ebaa?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"LEO editor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/author\/vince\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4645"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4646,"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4645\/revisions\/4646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leo-computers.org.uk\/leopedia.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}