The incredible legacy of an engineering genius
A revolutionary supercar created by a legendary Gloucestershire engineer, that's smashing speed and lap records wherever it goes, has achieved what many thought impossible!
Dear reader,
Welcome to the Monday edition of The Raikes Journal.
Today we lead on a quite incredible and really rather fun story about a Gloucestershire business turning heads in the world of motorsport and engineering with its achievements.
We particularly liked the story about McMurtry Automotive because it celebrates the genius that was Sir David McMurtry.
Few have laid down such a marker in both business and professional achievement as Sir David.
When he died aged 84 on December 9 last year, Renishaw, the Wotton-under-Edge engineering firm he founded in 1973 with fellow Rolls-Royce engineer, John Deer, had long been a household name and global success story.
His name was on 47 patents at Rolls-Royce and more than 150 at Renishaw and he was widely regarded in engineering circles as a genius.
McMurtry Automotive, a business he founded while in his seventies, continues, and is proof that he never stopped breaking boundaries and being excited by innovation and potential.
We think it’s an inspirational story - and hope you find it well worth the read.
This will be the only edition of the week as we run up to the four-day Easter weekend. I won’t be entirely off work from now on in, as I’m working on a few things behind the scenes, so please feel free to get in touch.
Have a great Easter.
Remember, for every person you refer to The Raikes Journal’s email service you get points towards a free membership allowing you to see beyond our paywalls. Please do sign up (free or otherwise), send the referral link to a friend or colleague, and help us grow.
Andrew Merrell (editor).
If you have a story, an issue, a news item, a charity or an interview you want us to write about or investigate, challenge the powers that be about, or want to learn about commercial opportunities or how to partner with us then please email me: andrew.merrell@raikesjournal.co.uk.
NB: We believe Raikes now publishes probably the best-read business-related email ‘newsletter’, pound for pound, in Gloucestershire.
Charity of the week: Cheltenham Open Door
One of the benefits (at least we like to think so) of being a Founding Partner of The Raikes Journal is that you get your good work championed by yours truly. Law firm Willans LLP is one such business. Its charity of the year is Cheltenham Open Door, which supports vulnerable, lonely and disadvantaged people in the community. Willans staff recently stepped up to design and prepare the menu, which serves between 50 and 100 guests daily from the town. Laura Stone, a partner at Willans’ and its charity committee co-chair, said: “Cheltenham Open Door provides an invaluable service to the community, and we look forward to working with them and the team further over the coming months, to continue raising awareness of the vital services they provide.” You can support too via the firm’s Cheltenham Open Door Just Giving page.
Your briefing notes…
🏘️ Gloucestershire-based housing association Bromford has announced the completion of a 71-home affordable housing development in Cheltenham. The homes have been built by Bromford’s in-house construction team on a brownfield site on Village Road, which was formerly occupied by the Douglas Equipment factory. Work started on site in autumn 2023 and has been completed on schedule. You can read the full story here in our PR Wire channel.
🏘️ Two Rivers Housing has secured £4.56m from the Government’s Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund to help improve the energy efficiency of hundreds of its homes in the Forest of Dean and across Gloucestershire. Over the next three years, the county-based housing association will use the grant to partially fund upgrades to more than 750 of its homes, including solar panels, loft insulation and improved ventilation systems. You can read the full story here in our PR Wire channel.
🏘️ A major housing developer that builds homes in Gloucestershire is celebrating after winning another maximum score in an annual survey of customer satisfaction. South West housebuilder Persimmon once again achieved the maximum five-star rating in an annual customer satisfaction survey. It’s the fourth year running the business has received the rating, which is based on the results of surveys completed by homebuyers after they have moved into their new home. You can read the full story here in our PR Wire channel.
🏘️Cheltenham Borough Council has unveiled what it claims are the town’s first new affordable net-zero carbon homes, built in partnership with Gloucester developer Newland Homes. The nine new properties have been developed in partnership with Newland Homes as part of a Section 106 agreement. The homes are a mix of one, two and three-bed properties available for affordable rent and shared ownership. You can read the full story here in our PR Wire channel.
⛪ Ecclesiastical Insurance is encouraging churches to take steps to prevent being the victim of theft as they welcome visitors over Easter. The extra footfall over the period has led the Gloucester-headquartered business to raise concerns about opportunistic thieves potentially stealing cash and priceless items. Churches have long been targeted by thieves, often for lead and copper from church roofs. Ecclesiastical said more than £500,000 worth of silver alone was stolen from church premises in 2024. You can read the full story here in our PR Wire channel.
⛪ Cirencester business Cotswold Archaeology has revealed details of a medieval church in Gloucester, found while it carried out archaeological excavation as part of University of Gloucestershire’s City Campus project. Archaeological excavations undertaken within the existing courtyard fully revealed the footprint of the post-medieval church. Approximately 150 post-medieval burials, not contained in burial vaults, were also identified in the courtyard (Raikes actually broke the story last year). You can read the latest version of the story here in our PR Wire channel.
Gloucestershire Forces Hub Pop-Up Launches in Eastgate Shopping Centre
A new initiative to support veterans, serving military personnel and their families, has launched at Eastgate Shopping Centre, Gloucester. The Gloucestershire Forces Hub Pop-Up will run until Friday 25 April 2025, offering vital resources and community engagement for the region’s armed forces population. Located at Bell Walk, opposite Specsavers, the Hub is a collaboration between The Forces Hub (FHUB), Gloucester Community Networking (GCN) and GL Communities, with support from Eastgate Shopping Centre. The two-week event will provide free drop-in services, one-to-one support and themed sessions, covering housing, employment, health and more. The pop-up is part of a long-term vision to launch permanent hubs across the county. Findings from the event will contribute to the Gloucestershire Integrated Forces Strategy, set to be published on Armed Forces Day - 28 June 2025. Permanent locations are expected to open by Remembrance Day - 11 November 2025. You can read more in our PR Wire channel here.
The sporting weekend ahead…
🏉 Gloucester Rugby play Saracens away on Saturday 19 April at 5.30pm.
⚽ Gloucester City play Marlow at home on Friday 18 April at 3pm.
⚽ Forest Green play Yeovil away on Friday 18 April at 3pm.
⚽ Cheltenham Town play Gillingham at home on Friday 18 April at 3pm.
* The Raikes Journal is a community interest company. Everything you read by us is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.
If you upgrade to paid you’ll be part of this CIC too. We are dedicated to delivering quality journalism for Gloucestershire, to championing the county, in particular its businesses, charities, education and training providers, and to helping create an even stronger community. If you upgrade to paid you will be able to see past the paywalls often put on our second and third email editions of the week, that lock all our archive after two weeks and lock our rolling Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire series. You will be able to comment on our stories too.
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The incredible legacy of an engineering genius
A revolutionary supercar created by a legendary Gloucestershire engineer, that's smashing speed and lap records wherever it goes, has achieved what many thought impossible!
When Sir David McMurtry died in December last year he left behind him not just a global business empire built on engineering excellence in the form of Renishaw, but a little-known motoring marque determined to conquer new frontiers.
McMurtry Automotive’s bold vision remains to build vehicles focused ‘purely on driving exhilaration’ for anyone ‘passionate about pushing limits’, and when it unveiled its supercar in 2021 it looked to have taken a giant leap towards that end.
But while the first car, the McMurtry Spéirling (which some remarked resembled the fictional Batmobile of the superhero Batman) wowed everyone on its first public outing at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2021, few would have guessed what would come next... driving upside down.
In a case of real life replicating fantasy, just like Batman’s fiendish four wheeled vehicle, the McMurtry Spéirling has achieved just that in a demonstration at the firm’s Gloucestershire headquarters, attended by employees and independent adjudicators.
In what has been described as “a stunning world first”, Thomas Yates, co-founder and managing director of the Wotton-under-Edge-based business, used the hypercar’s ‘proprietary fan system’ to produce what it calls a Downforce-on-DemandTM, to ‘suck’ the hypercar to the ‘floor’ of a specially-built rotating rig where it hung entirely unsupported.
Yates said: “That was just a fantastic day in the office! Strapping in and driving inverted was a completely surreal experience.
“The 2000kg of downforce that the fan system can generate is truly astonishing to experience and it’s great to show the reason why our Spéirling continues to take records around the world.”
“This demonstration was an exciting proof of concept using a small purpose-built rig, but is perhaps just the beginning of what’s possible. With a longer inverted track or a suitable tunnel, we may be able to drive even further!
“Huge congratulations and thanks to the entire McMurtry Automotive team, especially the engineers involved in the car and fan system’s design, they are the heroes of today.”
The monumental feat is yet another record-breaking outing for the Spéirling. It has also just been announced that the same vehicle has also smashed the Top Gear Test Track record by 3.1 seconds.
The previous record holder was a V10 Renault R24 Formula 1 racecar from 2004.
It also holds the Goodwood Festival of Speed Hillclimb outright record and the Laguna Seca Corkscrew Hillclimb record.
For those keepers of the flame who continue to push forward with Sir David’s vision, the objective is to become one of the world’s most prestigious and long-standing automotive brands, to champion innovation and showcase British innovation and engineering design.
In a world where at times serious issues seem to cancel out the fun, the Spéirling (Irish for thunderstorm) reminds us there is more to life.
Ollie Kew, a journalist for BBC Top Gear, described the car when it first emerged four years ago like this: “The stats on the prototype are promising, and daft. Thanks to an all-carbon construction, the Spéirling weighs just under 1,000kg, and each kilo has its own horsepower.
“The top speed, as decreed in the supercar commandments, is north of 200mph but how it gets there is beyond the powers of the Almighty. McMurtry claims zero to 186mph in 9.0secs.
“A Rimac Nevera takes 11.8 seconds, a Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 12.1. This is F1-ish pace, from a goth’s roller skate.”
The specific car used to set the latest record was the McMurtry Spéirling PURE Validation Prototype 1 (VP1). It is described as “an evolution” of the hypercar that set the Goodwood record and is the next step towards a finalised production model, of which only 100 will be made.
The first Spéirling PURE customer deliveries are set for 2026 and will feature a number of enhancements over this prototype, namely a higher 100kWh capacity battery back.
This will allow for extended sessions in the Spéirling, providing 20 minutes of track time at ‘GT3 pace’ and ‘record-breaking’ pace for multiple hot laps.
The lithium-ion battery cells that will be used are P50B Molicel 21700s delivering both exceptional power delivery and energy density.
Apparently it has long been discussed that high-performance race cars, such as those used in Formula 1, could theoretically be driven upside down due to the amount of downforce that they generate at speed due to their aerodynamics.
Equipped with McMurtry’s patented Downforce-on-DemandTM system, the Spéirling can accelerate, brake, and turn with significantly more grip than other hypercars and race cars, especially at low speed.
But unlike the F1 supercars the downforce is available at any speed in the Speirling even at a standstill.
A proprietary system enables the battery-electric hypercar to accelerate to 60mph in just 1.5 seconds, complete a quarter mile in eight seconds, and corner at more than 3g (three times the force of gravity).
The car was presented with a gloss black falcon camouflage livery on a matt black base coat.
This is a tribute to the original McMurtry fan car which was unveiled in 2021 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed where the public first asked “so, can you drive it upside down?”.
The falcons are modelled on the company logo, the peregrine falcon, the fastest creature on Earth. There are other graphics including under the rear wing, which are optimised for viewing when upside down.
Sir David, whose name is on scores of engineering patents had pedigree for working on the fastest vehicles man can make - his earlier career saw him working on Concorde’s supersonic Rolls-Royce Olympus engines.
Chris Pockett, head of communications at Renishaw, said: “Sir David challenged convention throughout his incredible life - the most lateral thinker that I have ever had the pleasure to meet.
“From the design of aero-engines and electric vehicles, to solving the measurement challenges of precision manufacturers globally, his radical thinking has led to products that have improved life for us all.
“His legacy is companies and engineers who will continue the relentless pursuit of new ideas to make improvements to many aspects of the world in which we live.”