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David McMurtry

Irish-British billionaire businessman (1940–2024)

Summary

Irish-British billionaire businessman (1940–2024)

Field	Value
honorific_prefix	Sir
name	David McMurtry
honorific_suffix
image	David McMurtry.jpg
caption	McMurtry in 2012
birth_name	David Roberts McMurtry
birth_date
birth_place	Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland
death_date
death_place	Gloucestershire, England
education	Mountjoy School
years_active	1958–2024
title	Chairman and co-founder, Renishaw plc
spouse
children	3

Sir David Roberts McMurtry (5 March 1940 – 9 December 2024) was an Irish-British billionaire businessman, who was the co-founder and executive chairman of Renishaw plc, the UK's largest supplier of metrology equipment. As of December 2024, his net worth was estimated at US$1.3 billion.

Early life and education

David Roberts McMurtry was born the second child of Frederick and Margaret McMurtry, on 5 March 1940, in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. He was brought up in Dublin and educated at Mountjoy School (now the Mount Temple Comprehensive School) in Dublin. McMurtry moved to the UK at the age of 18, in 1958.

Career

McMurtry joined Bristol Aeroplane Company as an apprentice in 1958. In 1966, following an acquisition, he found himself employed by Rolls-Royce Holdings where he became Deputy Chief Designer and Assistant Chief of Engine Design at Filton.

In 1973, he joined his former colleague John Deer to set up Renishaw plc. In 1987, McMurtry acquired the patents for his trigger probes from Rolls-Royce Holdings and began to exploit the patents himself.

In 2018, McMurtry stepped down as chief executive of Renishaw and was replaced by marketing and sales director William Lee.

On 2 March 2021, McMurtry, along with John Deer, indicated that they wished to dispose of their entire holdings in Renishaw, comprising some 53% of the shares, as 'we recognise that neither of us is getting any younger'. The Renishaw board then announced that it was launching a formal sale process for the entire company. This process was terminated on 7 July 2021, after the board concluded that none of the proposals met their objectives.

In June 2024, McMurtry stepped down as executive chairman of Renishaw and remained on the board as a non-executive director.

According to the Sunday Times Rich List 2024, with a net worth of £1.2 billion, McMurtry was the 135th richest person in the UK. He was the 157th richest on the list the year before.

Personal life and death

McMurtry married Teresa Adams in 1966, who survives him, and had three children. He lived in Wotton-under-Edge, England.

In 2001, McMurtry started working on Swinhay House. After it was completed, the "£30m futuristic eco-house" appeared in an episode of the BBC television series Sherlock.

McMurtry died in Gloucestershire on 9 December 2024, at the age of 84.

Awards and honours

McMurtry received the Queen's Award for Enterprise (now The King's Awards for Enterprise) in 1979. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1994 Birthday Honours for services to Science and Technology, and was knighted in the 2001 New Year Honours for services to Design and Innovation.

McMurtry was an honorary fellow of Cardiff University. He was also a fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He was elected a fellow of the SME in 1988. He was a recipient of the MacRobert Award. McMurtry received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 1998. In 2001, McMurtry was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2008, the University of Bath awarded him an honorary doctorate. In 2011, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. He won the Katharine Burr Blodgett Medal and Prize in 2012. In 2017, McMurtry received an honorary doctorate from the University of Huddersfield. He was the recipient of the 2019 James Watt International Gold Medal.

References

"Forbes profile: David McMurtry". Forbes.
(14 December 2024). "Sir David McMurtry, billionaire engineer-inventor who founded Renishaw and was named on 47 patents". The Telegraph.
(15 January 2001). "Irish-born designer receives knighthood". Irish Times.
Ferry, Jeff. (1 March 1992). "UK: The Wotton World Beater - RENISHAW PLC'S DAVID MCMURTRY.".
"Renishaw: Biography".
(4 March 2021). "End of an era for Renishaw". Business West.
(24 January 2018). "Co-founder of Britain's Renishaw to step down as CEO". Reuters.
(2 March 2021). "Renishaw PLC - Commencement of formal sale process".
"Renishaw PLC Announcements {{!}} Renishaw PLC: Update on Formal Sale Process & Current Trading".
(13 June 2024). "Gloucestershire billionaire Sir David McMurtry to step down as executive chair of Renishaw". Gloucestershire Live.
"The Sunday Times Rich List 2024".
Rust, Stuart. (25 June 2015). "Slimbridge Parish WI have afternoon tea with Sir David McMurtry".
Osborne, Alistair. (6 November 2013). "David McMurtry - one of Britain's master craftsmen".
(8 March 2015). "David McMurtry". Irish Independent.
Ward, Chris. (10 December 2024). "The manufacturing industry has lost a great innovator and many at Renishaw have lost a father figure and a friend".
Reynolds, John. (15 December 2024). "By any measure – not just in business and inventing – David McMurtry was a remarkable person".
(6 November 2013). "David McMurtry - a career in pictures".
United Kingdom list: {{London Gazette. (10 June 1994)
{{London Gazette. (29 November 1994)
{{London Gazette. (30 December 2000)
(11 May 2011). "Measure of success".
Hogan, Brian J.. (July 2008). "David McMurtry". Renishaw.
"Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh: Honorary Graduates". Heriot-Watt University.
"List of Fellows".
(27 June 2008). "Internal News".
"Sir David Roberts McMurtry CBE FREng FRS". Royal Society.
"The Swan/Business and Innovation medal recipients". Institute of Physics.
(September 2017). "Honorary Awards at the November 2017 Graduation Ceremonies".
"2019 James Watt International Gold Medal Winner".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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