[2] McMurtry had needed to measure fuel pipes on a prototype jet engine: at the time, coordinate-measuring machine sensors featured rigid styli, which required manual positioning on the surface and which yielded poor repeatability when measuring delicate components.

[2] Renishaw floated on the Unlisted Securities Market in 1983,[3] and gained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange in November 1984.

[6] In 2010 Renishaw bought a stake (and subsequently took complete control) of Measuring Devices Ltd, a company providing a range of services in the field of surveying equipment.

The company has a machine shop located at Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, and an assembly facility at Woodchester, both near Stroud.

[10] On 2 March 2021, David McMurtry and 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'.