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===Commercial computers===
The first commercial electronic computer was the [[Ferranti Mark 1]], built by [[Ferranti]] and delivered to the [[University of Manchester]] in February 1951. It was based on the [[Manchester Mark 1]]. The main improvements over the Manchester Mark 1 were in the size of the [[primary storage]] (using [[Random-access memory|random access]] [[Williams tubes]]), [[secondary storage]] (using a [[drum memory|magnetic drum]]), a faster multiplier, and additional instructions. The basic cycle time was 1.2 milliseconds, and a multiplication could be completed in about 2.16 milliseconds. The multiplier used almost a quarter of the machine's 4,050 vacuum tubes (valves).{{sfn|Lavington|1998|p=25}} A second machine was purchased by the [[University of Toronto]], before the design was revised into the [[Ferranti Mark 1#Mark 1 Star|Mark 1 Star]]. At least seven of these later machines were delivered between 1953 and 1957, one of them to [[Royal Dutch Shell|Shell]] labs in Amsterdam.<ref>{{Citation |publisher=Computer Conservation Society |title=Our Computer Heritage Pilot Study: Deliveries of Ferranti Mark I and Mark I Star computers. |url=https://www.ourcomputerheritage.org/wp/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211201840/http://www.ourcomputerheritage.org/wp/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 December 2016 |access-date=9 January 2010 }}</ref>
In October 1947, the directors of [[J. Lyons and Co.|J. Lyons & Company]], a British catering company famous for its teashops but with strong interests in new office management techniques, decided to take an active role in promoting the commercial development of computers. The [[LEO computer|LEO I]] computer (Lyons Electronic Office) became operational in April 1951<ref>{{cite web | last = Lavington | first = Simon | title = A brief history of British computers: the first 25 years (1948–1973). | publisher = [[British Computer Society]] | url = http://www.bcs.org/server.php? | access-date = 10 January 2010 | archive-date = 2010-07-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100705050757/http://www.bcs.org/server.php | url-status = dead }}</ref> and ran the world's first regular routine office computer [[job (software)|job]]. On 17 November 1951, the J. Lyons company began weekly operation of a bakery valuations job on the LEO – the first business [[:Category:Application software|application]] to go live on a stored-program computer.{{efn|{{harvnb|Martin|2008|p=24}} notes that [[David Caminer]] (1915–2008) served as the first corporate electronic systems analyst, for this first business computer system. LEO would calculate an employee's pay, handle billing, and other office automation tasks.}}
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