Ron Lander's decision to refocus and reposition his software company is paying off Reprogrammed for success

This refocusing of the company, and his business priorities, means he has given up many of his peripheral non-commercial activities, although he intends to continue his involvement with bodies such as the GDA and the Entrepreneural Exchange.

He formed Lander Software in February 1986 after relinquishing his managing directorship of Lander Alarms, a position he had held since December 1979 when his family sold an 80% stake in the company to the RMC Group for #2m.

''During my period as managing director we built up the company from being eighth in the UK in its sector to be in the top three.''

He recalls one 18-month period during this spell in which he was acquiring a new business for between #100,000 and #2m every six weeks.

Earlier he had built up his own mortgage brokership, Lander Grayburn, before returning to the original family business.

''After leaving Lander Alarms,'' he explained, ''I had no clear idea what I wanted to do. I had been completely devoted to my previous business.''

He recognised that computers would become much more commercial as more people owned them at home. He also recognised that they would become a powerful educational tool.

As a result, Lander Software was formed as an ''embryonic marketing company for educational software''.

In the early days it was plagued by piracy. Mr Lander smiles wryly when he recalls that it sold to hundreds of schools in England but that not one bought more than one copy.

''Piracy was rife, nobody respected your copyright, which in those days was not a criminal offence.''

Five years ago the company began to develop its own programmes and a year later it moved into multi-media. It began to ''get serious'' and refocused itself in a more commercial manner two years ago.

Lander Software continues to develop educational software, which is often, in the jargon of the industry, edutainment. In plain English, this means that a subject is taught in an entertaining fashion using cartoon figures.

Into this category comes Helicop, who investigates words and numbers using animation, with users controlling a helicopter figure which flies around shooting objects and collecting letters or numbers to spell the word or work out the sum.

More recently, the company launched Interactive PastPapers, aimed at helping pupils studying A-Level or Higher Maths. This exam simulator was developed at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University.

PastPapers is more seriously education orientated, and has already been snapped up by many pupils preparing for this year's exams.

Ron Lander expects it to become one of the company's biggest successes, and it is already being sold in WH Smith and PC World stores. It is also intended that PastPapers will have a website on the Internet.

Overseas sales are very important to Lander Software, accounting for 65% of its income. Its edutainment games are sold in 30 countries and translated into every EU langauge with the exception of Greek, and this is on the way.

The company has also entered the lucrative field of developing multi-media websites for corporate customers.

''We have refocused and repositioned ourselves,'' Ron Lander said, ''and we have a very talented team of programmers and graphic artists. We now not only conceive and develop the programme, but we also design the box it is sold in.''

In 1998 Lander Software intends to double this year's expected turnover of #500,000 to #1m, and looking further ahead he said: ''It is our intention to seek a public listing within AIM.''

The introduction of computers with CD-Rom drive has, he said, made a huge difference to the potential of the sector, as has the ability to connect with the Internet.

Lander Software is now developing a Windows 95 version of one of its earlier successes, Hooray for Henrietta, a series which includes Hooray for Maths and Hooray for Spelling.

There is no doubt, though, that the programme which gives Ron Lander most satisfaction is PAL, the special needs programme initially created for sufferers of cerebral palsy.

He describes with some feeling how he conversed with a cerebral palsy sufferer who used PAL to communicate. He also proudly shows a letter he received from a teacher in Western Australia who described how PAL had helped a 14-year-old boy who, although bright, could not write properly. Using the computer programme, he was able to write poetry.

The teacher ended her letter by saying: ''You should have a large banner outside your building with the slogan ''PAL can change lives!''