Born in Surrey on 21 March 1925, Alfred was the son of a Russian émigré who ran a series of business ventures (not always successfully).
[1] In 1969, he was appointed director of planning at the British Printing Corporation[1] and in 1971[2] became chairman of its publishing division.
[1] After leaving in 1981,[2] he was appointed Chief Executive of the Property Services Agency and Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of the Environment in 1982, serving until 1984.
He then set up his own publisher, Regimental Press, and worked for the Chinese businessman Au Bak Ling.
He was chairman of two London synagogues and of the Union of Liberal and Progressive Judaism and the Ideology and Theology Think Tank.