Eric George Lofthouse was an Electrical Engineer. After his National Service, he worked at A. V. Roe and, having been to college, set up his own business fixing radios and TVs in the 1950s. He moved to Lancashire from Wyke and continued to work for A. V. Roe. Lofthouse designed a unit for cutting materials out: the first numerically controlled machine that he worked on from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Lofthouse then went on to ICL as a Commissioning Engineer. After his role was made redundant, he became a Senior Design Editor. Lofthouse's next move was to UMIST, working in the Psychology Department as a technician designing equipment for people with learning difficulties, before his retirement.