Global precision engineering company completes second phase of refurbishment at South Wales site

摘要

When David McMurtry designed and made his first touch-trigger probe, at home over a weekend some 40 years ago, it is unlikely that he and his colleague John Deer imagined that the company they started in 1973 would one day have some 3,130 employees and a turnover of ￡332 million. Brought up in Dublin, Mr McMurtry (now Sir David) joined Bristol Aero Engines as an apprentice in 1958. In 1966, following an acquisition, he found himself employed by Rolls-Royce plc, where he eventually became deputy chief designer and assistant chief of engine design at Filton. In 1972, while working on Concorde engines, he designed the touch-trigger probe to obviate the problems encountered when trying to measure long, relatively small-diameter fuel pipes (with complex bends) using equipment featuring solid probes: these deflected the pipes during the measuring process, making it almost impossible to get accurate readings.