Čestmír Petroš: Business favors the prepared and the bold

“If I had to sum up in two words how we managed to keep the company going for over three decades, I’d probably say it was mainly due to courage and creativity. For us, every new task was a challenge, and problems never stopped us – rather, they pushed us forward. The phrase ‘it can’t be done’ simply didn’t exist. We just kept searching and trying for so long until it worked,” says Čestmír Petroš, one of the two managing directors and co-owners of HALEN. We met him in Zlaté Hory in the Jeseníky Mountains, a short distance from the Polish border.

The story of partners Čestmír Petroš and Dalibor Prejda began after 1989, like many others in our country. “In 1990, the situation at the company where we worked was uncertain. So my childhood friend and I decided to try starting a business. By chance, we got in touch with the owner of ANTIK, who was then successfully building a business in Uhříněves focused on restoration and sale of antique furniture. He was sourcing fittings abroad – and we told him we could make them too, and cheaper. That was our first challenge. Those early days in the garage, where the two of us worked from dawn till dusk seven days a week, were tough. We learned as we went and took a lot of risks. But we proved that we had what it takes,” Čestmír Petroš recalls with a smile.

Čestmír Petroš, managing director and co-owner of HALEN

“At one point, we were the best in Europe in this product range, we sold fittings successfully abroad, and it made up the majority of our company’s turnover. But as it often happens, nothing lasts forever. Interest waned, and demand was also disrupted by cheap furniture chains. So we had to think about what to do next. Gradually, we expanded into custom engineering production, purchased CNC machines, and in 2010 we added custom minting of commemorative coins and medals. That was actually my dream come true.”

As a native of Zlaté Hory, he wanted to bring this tradition back to the town historically associated with gold mining and coinage. “I remember our first minting, which was again largely due to chance. The then mayor of Zlaté Hory came to me and said he would like to have a commemorative coin of our city minted. But the mint rejected him because it was a small series. So I promised him that we would try to do it in our metal production. We kept our promise, and this was historically our first minting. That was back in 2009.”

Since then, the Zlaté Hory Mint has developed dynamically, and currently it keeps around 3,000 dies in its archives and vaults. Every year, it produces about 100,000 coins, making it once again a major player in its field. It mints not only replicas of historical coins but also contemporary medals and custom-made metal embossings in both common and precious metals.

YES/NO coins from the Zlaté Hory Mint workshop. Not all decisions have to be complicated. Sometimes you just flip a coin and let things flow. Chance, too, has its place in life

Its customers include cities, municipalities, companies, organizations, but also theatres, museums, sports clubs, zoos and individuals, who might order a single medal engraved with the text Welcome to the world. Your grandma. Most of these are silver or gold. Custom-made production and original custom design are the main strengths of this mint. Put simply, they can fulfil almost any request within ten days.

Written by Jana Jenšíková

Photo credits: HALEN