LEO Computers receives two letters with very similar text sent on the same day by The Board of Trade, asking if they (LEO) are currently producing equipment equivalent to that produced by IBM. The request concerns the waiver of 'Imperial Preference' for IBM computer equipment being imported into Australia.  The Board of Trade essentially is asking if LEO Computers are making equipment commercially available which could be considered equivalent to the IBM 650 - if so, the 'Imperial Preference' shouldn't be waived as they would encourage businesses in Australia (and other, at the time, British territories) to favour equipment made by British companies.

Comprises:

• Letter from Miss M. Heard (Engineering Industries Division, Board of Trade) to The Secretary, LEO Computers Ltd, subject: IBM Data Processing Machines which in total comprise the IBM Computer 650 system, 21st January 1959. [The letter has been pasted onto backing, obscuring some of the text on the back];
• Second letter from Miss M. Heard (Engineering Industries Division, Board of Trade) to The Secretary, LEO Computers Ltd, subject: IBM Magnetic Drum Data Processing Unit, 21st January 1959, enclosing a photocopy of a printed advert/info sheet for the IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data-Processing Machine;
• Draft response to Board of Trade letter re: IBM 650; 
• "Particulars of The Goods Referred To" - description of the IBM 650 System, annotated in unidenitified hand [M.A. Holmyard?]; 
• Draft response to Board of Trade letter re: IBM Magnetic Drum Data Processing Unit; 
• File copy letter of response from LEO Computers Secretary to Board of Trade letter re: IBM Magnetic Drum Data Processing Unit, 30th January 1959;
• File copy letter, response from LEO Computers Secretary to Board of Trade letter re: IBM 650 System, outlining details and availability of the LEO Computer as an equivalent to the IBM 650, 30th January 1959.

Provenance :
Collected by Peter Bird as part of his research for his book LEO - The First Business Computer (1994).