Bill Murphy, Vice President of Sales at Crane Payment Innovations (CPI), recounts his journey from Manchester, England to the beaches of Sydney and why he has stuck with the same company for almost four decades.
Ben Blaschke: Thanks for speaking with IAG, Bill. Can you tell us about where you grew up and your early career memories?
Bill Murphy: I grew up in a place called Preston, just outside Manchester in Northern England, which was a fairly working-class area. For me, school was more about sport than academics, so I left at 17 and started applying for jobs. This was in the early 1980s.
I was fortunate enough to land an apprenticeship with Taito, the Japanese company behind Space Invaders. As an apprentice electronics engineer, I learned how to repair video machines and arcade games installed in pubs, cafés and amusement venues across Northern England. Looking back, that was really the start of my career in the amusement and gaming industry.
I completed a four-year apprenticeship with Taito and earned my electronics qualifications. To be honest, I wouldn’t say I was a great engineer, but I learned a tremendous amount about the industry. In my early 20s, I moved to Crown Leisure, one of the UK’s largest operators of fruit machines, jukeboxes and pin tables in pubs and clubs across the North of England. As a service engineer, I spent my days travelling throughout cities such as Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester, repairing slot machines, jukeboxes and pinball tables. After about five years, I progressed into a service manager role, leading a team of around a dozen engineers.
At that point, I saw an advertisement in Coinslot magazine for a support representative position with Coin Controls in Oldham. The role involved providing technical and integration support to the sales team. The salespeople would secure the business, and I would help ensure the products were successfully implemented and supported.
It didn’t take long for me to realise that I genuinely enjoyed the commercial side of the business, and I found myself drawn more to customer relationships and sales. That role ultimately became the turning point in my career, marking my transition from engineering into sales.
From there, the business evolved through a series of acquisitions and mergers. Coin Controls became Money Controls, which was later acquired by Crane. Crane then acquired MEI (Mars Electronics International) and the businesses eventually merged to form Crane Payment Innovations (CPI). Throughout those transitions, I continued to develop my career, gaining valuable experience across sales, customer engagement and business leadership.
BB: How did you end up in this part of the world?
BM: While I was still in the UK, I progressed through several roles, becoming UK Sales Manager and eventually European Sales Director. As part of my remit, I was also responsible for South Africa and Australia, which meant I was travelling regularly to both regions.
One moment that proved to be a real turning point came in 1997. I was giving a presentation at Holland Casino in Amsterdam on our latest coin validator. Back then, gaming machines still ran on coins, and our technology was at the forefront of the industry. After the presentation, a gentleman in the audience approached me. It was Ian Scott, who was the Manufacturing Director at Aristocrat at the time. He wrote a note on the back of his business card and handed it to me. It read, “If you want to sell 30,000 of these a year, give me a call.”
Needless to say, I made the call and we won the business. Their message was straightforward: “We want to use your coin validator in all our machines, and we’ll need around 30,000 units a year. But you’ll need to open an office in Australia.”
When I returned to the UK, I went straight to my boss and explained that we’d landed Aristocrat and were likely to secure other major manufacturers such as IGT, Konami and several others. The opportunity was enormous, but opening our own Australian operation would be essential. My boss listened and told me, “You’d better sit down with your wife and tell her you’re moving to Australia.”
I always joke that it came down to a choice between the Manchester Ship Canal and Sydney Harbour. Thankfully, the harbour won and in 1998, my family and I emigrated to Australia and we’ve never looked back.
It’s remarkable to think that one product, a coin validator, ultimately changed the course of my life. It’s the reason I came to Australia and more than 28 years later, I’m still here.
BB: A lot has changed in this part of the world in the years since.
BM: One of the things I remember most is those early days in Macau. At the time, our bill acceptor wasn’t really on par with some of our competitors, but we were determined to build our presence in the market.
I started traveling regularly to Macau, meeting many of the pioneers who were helping shape what the industry would eventually become. People like Ciarán Carruthers, Justin Casey, Lindsay Stewart and Ken Jolly were all part of that early wave of leaders. My first trip to Macau was in 2002, and even then you could sense the enormous potential the region had.
The real turning point came around 14 years ago when Crane acquired MEI. MEI was the leading provider of bill acceptors globally and had an exceptionally strong position within the gaming industry. That acquisition significantly expanded our footprint and transformed our position in the market. Today, CPI holds a dominant share of the APAC gaming market for bill acceptors, and it’s been incredible to witness that growth firsthand. Having been involved from those early days, it’s particularly rewarding to see how far the business has come.
BB: It’s quite apparent that you have taken this journey alongside Crane and CPI, and your role has evolved as the company has evolved.
BM: People often say to me, “My God, 37 years with the same company?” My response is that, technically, I’ve never left and I’ve never handed in my resignation. Over those 37 years, the business has gone through multiple acquisitions, mergers and transformations. Each time a change occurred, I didn’t simply keep my role by default. I had to put myself forward, compete for opportunities and prove that I could add value in the next phase of the company’s journey.
Fortunately, each time I was successful and earned the opportunity to continue growing with the business. So, while it may look from the outside like I’ve spent nearly four decades in the same company, the reality is that I’ve had many different careers within that organization.
BB: What’s the appeal for you? What do you love about your job day-to-day?
BM: People often assume I’ve spent my entire career in the gaming industry, but that’s not entirely true. When I first moved to Australia, long before the acquisition of MEI, our core business was centered around coin hoppers and coin validators. At that stage, the company wasn’t the major bill acceptor and payment technology business that CPI is today. Because of that, my role extended well beyond gaming.
I was responsible for a range of other industry verticals, including financial services and transportation. That work took me all over Asia, particularly to India, where I’ve probably travelled 25 or 30 times over the years. We supplied payment systems for metro ticketing machines across India, as well as in many of the major cities throughout China and the broader Asia-Pacific region.
I spent a significant amount of time traveling across Asia, working with customers and supporting projects that had nothing to do with gaming. It was an incredibly valuable experience because it exposed me to different cultures, industries and ways of doing business. Then came the acquisition of MEI, which was a major turning point for the business. Gaming quickly became a much larger part of our business, and that’s when I shifted my focus almost entirely to the gaming sector. For the past 14 years, that’s been my primary focus.
So, why am I still here today? First and foremost, CPI is a great company to work for. They’ve looked after me throughout my career, and I believe in returning that loyalty. I’ve been fortunate to work with good people, build a strong team and be part of a business that continues to evolve and grow. But the biggest reason is much simpler than that: I genuinely love this industry and the people in it. I don’t really think of them as customers or suppliers anymore. Many of them have become friends over the years and, in some cases, feel like extended family.
Whether it’s spending time in some of the world’s great integrated resorts, walking a trade show floor, or catching up with industry friends at events like IAG’s MAD events, I still enjoy it as much today as I did when I started.
BB: You mentioned that your first trip to Macau was in 2002. What were your first impressions back then, and did you have any concept of how it would develop over the next 25 years?
BM: I think I’ve still got photographs from back then, when Sands Macao hadn’t broken ground. There was the iconic Lisboa on the Macau side and Galaxy had Waldo across the road from the Mandarin Oriental, but Cotai was nothing – absolutely nothing there at all. So, I saw all of that evolve, and it’s been very impressive to say the least. I was also there for the great years at the Embassy Bar (at the old Mandarin Oriental, now Artyzen Grand Lapa). That place was iconic. It was a meeting place for everyone involved in the industry: contractors, bricklayers, lawyers, gaming machine sales reps – it was everyone. There were some fun times in the Embassy Bar, and I’m sure many of your readers will concur with me. Of course that was the early days. Twenty years later, look what a magnificent entertainment destination Macau has become today.
BB: What would you say are some of the key lessons you’ve learned that have helped shape your career?
BM: One of the most important values I’ve carried throughout my career is treating everyone equally. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a technician on the gaming floor or the CEO of a business. Over the past 20 years in Macau, I’ve seen many junior technicians join the industry and progress into senior leadership roles, including heading up electronic gaming departments. Experiences like that have reinforced the importance of showing everyone the same level of respect, regardless of their title or position. Another principle I strongly believe in is that you can’t teach work ethic, common sense or initiative. Technical skills and knowledge can be learned through education, training and experience, but qualities like drive, accountability and a willingness to take ownership come from within. In my experience, those attributes are often the difference between being good at a job and becoming truly successful.
BB: What does a typical day in the working life of Bill Murphy look like?
BM: Our business is primarily driven through sales to OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). In simple terms, when a gaming machine manufacturer sells a machine, we sell a bill acceptor to go inside it. However, it’s not quite as straightforward as selling a product to a handful of OEMs.
The gaming industry operates very much as a pull market. While we supply the manufacturers, the end user, the casino operator, ultimately determines which bill validator they want installed in their machines. That’s why relationship-building is such an important part of my role. Even though I don’t directly sell products to casinos, I help create demand by working closely with operators, understanding their needs and promoting both our technology and the CPI brand. When a casino places an order for gaming machines and specifically requests our bill acceptors, that demand flows back through the OEMs and creates the opportunity for us.
In addition to my sales responsibilities, I’m also the Site Leader for CPI’s Sydney facility, which serves as our Asia-Pacific headquarters. The operation includes warehousing, technical support, finance, administration and office-based teams, so my role extends well beyond sales.
While sales remains a major part of what I do, I’m certainly not just a salesperson. In many ways, I’m responsible for overseeing the broader Australian and Asia-Pacific operation, spanning sales, logistics, customer support, finance, administration and overall business management. That’s one of the things I enjoy most about the role. Every day is different and it gives me the opportunity to contribute across many areas of the business.
BB: With all the travel you take on, do you have a favorite destination?
BM: Sydney, without a doubt. I fell in love with Sydney the very first time I visited, long before I moved here. Every time I came out from the UK, I would tell my wife what an incredible place it was and how fortunate anyone would be to live here. As it turned out, we were lucky enough that my job eventually brought us here, and it’s one of the best things that ever happened to our family.
I’ve been fortunate to travel extensively throughout Asia during my career, and there are so many places that I enjoy visiting. The region has an incredible diversity of cultures, people and experiences. I love the food, the history and the opportunity to experience different ways of life. Every country has its own unique character, which is one of the reasons I’ve always enjoyed travelling so much.
If I had to pick a favorite destination in Asia today, it would probably be Vietnam. I think it’s a fantastic country to visit, with great people, amazing food and a vibrant energy that makes every trip memorable. It’s also been exciting to watch the country’s development over the years, including the positive progress being made within its tourism and gaming sectors.
That said, while I love travelling throughout Asia, Sydney will always be number one for me. The lifestyle, the harbor, the beaches, the climate and the people make it a truly special place to live. More than 28 years after moving here, I still appreciate what a privilege it is to call Sydney home.
BB: Finally, Bill, when you do get a bit of a chance to take a break from work, what do you do to relax?
BM: Outside of work, my favorite pastime is taking my boat out on the beautiful waters around Sydney, particularly Pittwater and Sydney Harbour. There’s something about being out on the water that allows me to completely switch off and relax. I also enjoy keeping fit and try to get to the gym as often as I can. Staying active has always been important to me, especially given the amount of travel that’s been a part of my career over the years.
Beyond that, it’s all about spending time with family and friends. Having worked in a role that involves extensive travel for so long, it’s often been difficult to commit to team sports or regular sporting activities. You can’t always make training sessions, and sometimes you miss the games altogether, so it becomes challenging to be part of a team environment outside of work.
That said, I’m a wannabe golfer. Golf is very much part of my retirement plan. At the moment, I simply don’t have the time to dedicate to it.
