Following his resignation from the National Research Development Corporation (N.R.D.C.), Strachey acted as private consultant to Ferranti Ltd., 1959-1962, with special responsibility for the development of an autocode for the ORION computer. Strachey's assistant, Peter Landin, was principally engaged on this work under Strachey's guidance. The final report, scheduled for February 1962, was not formally completed.

The Computer Department of Ferranti Ltd. was sold to International Computers and Tabulators Ltd (I.C.T.) in 1963. Because few records survive elsewhere for the Orion project, the memoranda, research papers, manuals and company material circulated to Strachey by the firm, have been retained.