Happy New Year for 2019

I have popped in to the office to catch up on a few things after the Christmas break with a clear head! As our rock and roll new year was at the pantomime with our seven year old daughter. I would not have it any other way as family is the whole reason we work hard and try to build a secure future. While sitting here and thinking about the year gone by and how we have helped lots of new and existing customers earn more money from there machines, it made me think about how this industry like many others over the years has changed. And perhaps this is a good time to post a brief history about Comrie which has now been supplying pubs and social clubs with fruit machines  for over 50 years…..

Comrie has been trading for just over 50 years, a lot has changed over that time. However the fundamentals, providing the latest proven machines and giving a first class service in the event of a breakdown has not changed in all those years.

Harry Greig was the founder of Comrie all those years ago after he settled in Coventry with his family. The company name came about as he lived in Comrie Close and he also liked the connection, having been born in Scotland, with a village in Scotland called Comrie, before his family moved south to Tottenham, London.

In the early days it was mechanical fruit machines, mainly a make called Jennings. These machines are worth a lot of money today just in case you have one put away in the loft! They also operated machines called Bally Bingo machine that were also very popular.

Unfortunately at the start of the millennium, Harry Greig sadly passed away. The company continued under the guidance of Harry’s wife June and his son Mark. The type of machines changed but the ethos of the latest proven machines and good service remained.

Comrie was located for over 30 years in Britannia Street, Coventry, next to the old Coventry City Football ground on Highfield Road until they bought larger modern premises on Green Lane, Coventry, where they are still located today.

June Greig retired and Mark’s wife came in to run the company after 18 years at Coventry University Business School. A lot of changes have been made behind the scenes and Comrie has continued to invest heavily in the latest digital fruit machines for pubs and clubs.

Along the way, the company has purchased two of their local competitors and has grown to a team of 17 staff which also includes two Harry’s Amusements gaming centres named after the founder, Harry Greig.

Even in the last five years the coin operated gaming industry has been changing with digital machines and jukeboxes taking over, the new £1 coin and our notes changing to plastic, which has all kept us busy.

But, the next five years looks even more exciting with contactless card payments over taking cash and less and less people carrying cash, there is no doubt we will all be playing machines with contactless or even playing with our mobile phone. Who knows it might even be a cashless society.

We look forward to all these changes and will keep moving with the times to keep Comrie at the front locally with pubs and clubs in Coventry, Birmingham, Leicester and surrounding areas.

Here’s to another 50 years…..