Haloid Photographic) and The Rank Organisation of the United Kingdom, to manufacture and market Xerox equipment initially in Europe and later in Africa and Asia.

According to Graham Dowson, later Rank's chief executive, it was "a stroke of luck that turned out to be a touch of genius … If Tom Law had not seen that magazine, we would not have known about xerography – or at least not before it was too late.

In a speech in 1968, Rank Xerox managing director Nigel Foulkes said that in 1961 the company had had "a five-years' lead over the rest of the world", with copying products which had no serious competition.

[3] In 1968, Rank Xerox, under Foulkes, initiated a marketing concept to sell rather than rent their copying machines behind the Iron Curtain, by appointing Gordon S Planner as General Manager East Export Operations via a firm of head hunters.

[4] Sales of machines increased rapidly to Eastern Europe and a unique marketing concept deployed in 1973 using a specially built and equipped train showcasing Rank Xerox copiers, it toured nine countries in Eastern Europe covering 30,000 miles and returned orders of over £3m.

[5] Commissioning London based designer Cairnes Maltby, the latter came up firstly with a train unit comprising five carriages.

Ralph Land CBE, was General Manager of Rank Xerox Eastern Europe Operations (1976–91).