1994 “The founding”
Two general partners, one limited partner — that’s how Menet-Trend Bt. sets off on 1 January. A modest 28 m² office on the 6th-floor fire corridor of a panel block. The activity is brokerage trade; there is no stock. A scrapyard takes the old, 20-year-old “banger” off our hands for 1,000 forints a year, leaving us a 250cc ETZ (motorbike) for pick-ups and deliveries. Whatever we promise is at the customer’s door on time. Everything comes down to organisation, so we put everything into it. There’s no money for advertising, yet the calls keep coming in and our order book grows. Word of mouth works! We earn it, but the two of us are already struggling to keep up. (The limited partner takes no part in the day-to-day work…)
1995 “The first disappointment”
Now we have to prove that we can stand the test! Staying afloat isn’t easy: one Friday an old friend drops by and borrows an “insignificant” sum until the following Monday — that was all we had managed to save in the first year… We lost both the money and the “friend”. We’ll manage, even though there are no patrons behind us — for half a year there’s no salary either — which is exactly why we are business partners, with no employees. We have to stick together, whatever happens.
All attention goes to delivery — that is, keeping our word is all we have, but that is no small thing! Absolute payment discipline! Every one of our invoices paid by the due date at the latest! The suppliers are satisfied, the goods always arrive on time: the customers are satisfied too. We hit our first full-year turnover, and let out a big sigh at year’s end…
1996 “The first computer”
“A small step in the history of mankind, but all the bigger a step in our own lives.”
A 1300cc “boxy” Lada is better for carrying goods than a motorbike, and we have help now too: my father changes jobs just before retirement and joins us as an all-rounder. Someone else appears as well, and with them our first computer (a 486). The new colleague writes a program that gives the business a real boost: data-processing speed increases dramatically. We close the last hand-written invoice book — and with it our first era.
That same year we move into a ground-floor shop twice as big and start building up stock. The most important decision — the one that fundamentally shapes the company’s future — is made: our core profile is the distribution of stainless-steel fasteners! By the end of the year we manage to accumulate about 5 tonnes in the storeroom of our 55 m² shop. Our confidence grows: LET’S EXPAND!
1997 “Double or nothing!”
“If we survived the first 3 years and there are already visible signs of growth, then from here on it will work!” We keep up a personal relationship with every customer and supplier, and the dialogue drives the cooperation forward. We source, nurture relationships, send out quotes, warehouse, deliver, take on new colleagues, run out of space…
We break through the wall and set up in the neighbouring unit too. “Double or nothing!” More space, more goods, more hands, more computers, faster service, greater professional competence — word spreads and our results grow. The small Skoda delivery van is a big step forward — carrying goods by motorbike is now a thing of the past.
1998 “The shoe pinches”
What will the approaching turn of the millennium bring? We are already looking to the future, no longer fixated only on the difficulties of the present. We have a future! Most likely it is up to us what it will be. New suppliers and products on the range. We are still reproducing our very first catalogue, put together back in ’94, which has proven itself. The ancestor of today’s Menet-Trend logo appears, cropping up in more and more advertisements. We close a great year, but the shoe is noticeably starting to pinch here — and there. Is there a hall for rent somewhere nearby?!
1999 “The first great trial”
We’re not sitting on pins and needles — we’re sitting on screws — while the previous tenant vacates the building we’ve set our sights on. The questions raised the year before are answered: the very person we blessed for bringing IT into our lives now shows us its downsides too — he “pedals over” to our competition. We have to learn the lesson: we’ve reached the level at which one starts to make enemies and ill-wishers.
The previous tenant is slow to move out, while our own notice period runs out — we have to go. Moving in is anything but smooth: we have to renovate, sell and settle in all at once, live and in parallel. It takes months before every item makes it off the pallets and onto the shelves. Surprisingly, in the very month of the move our turnover breaks a record. In the end we get the better of the chaos — and so the year 2000 arrives.
2000 “Reorganisation? Organisation!”
As a co-exhibitor we take part in our first industrial trade fair. An average headcount of 15, nationwide recognition, a network of resellers. The signs of overload appear: the two owner-managers can no longer personally control every process — we have “outgrown” the old organisational structure.
The first organisational-development courses begin. We create the company’s Organising Board: 7 departments, with every task to be done made visible and every post clearly separated. We set about distributing the workloads sensibly. “Personnel and partner management” is just one of the courses completed this year — we come to see how much rests on carefully selecting our colleagues. The results are excellent.
2001 “Transformation”
We publish our first photographic product catalogue and, for the first time, take part as an independent exhibitor at the Industria industrial fair. The headcount is 20; in July a new gallery with 10 workstations and a meeting room is built above the warehouse, and the vehicle fleet grows by 3 new vans. The first version of our Terms & Conditions is drawn up.
On 1 August we start a new chapter: we convert from a Bt. (limited partnership) into a Kft. (limited liability company). In September we introduce the ISO 9000:2000 quality-assurance system and purchase new enterprise-management software. Drastic growth on every front! The two owners sense that something is not right among the staff — several people leave before the year is out, but we know this is only the beginning…
2002 “Two captains, one ship…”
At the start of the year, further hostile elements leave the company. Their plan is to found a company in the same profile, with the same customer base, suppliers and catalogue — this is what caused the internal tension. Our relationship with our partners remains unbroken and good, but the disappointment inside us is enormous.
Meanwhile, major investments in IT: fleet expansion, a January software change (the new program is Diamond), and the company’s first website is built too. The warehouse grows by another room. A virus-laden e-mail “wipes out” our server’s hard drive — we clear away the wreckage and carry on working. It becomes clear that one managing director can be more effective than two: I hand over my post and step into the background.
2003 “The great comeback…”
By mutual agreement I take back the managing-director post, and we begin a new era once again. Rapid reorganisations follow, and everything returns to its normal course. We exhibit at the Industria again, make our debut at a foreign industrial fair as well, and launch regular updates in the form of newsletters.
At the weekly and monthly meetings we set goals and work out strategies. The continuously maintained ISO quality-assurance system provides the framework for raising the standard of service, while WISE provides ethical standards and effective management tools. It’s easy to close a successful year!
2004 “We turned 10”
A hard start, persistent work, a successful close. The world price of steel rises almost by the day — China is buying up every raw material and production is faltering in Europe. Price increases are unpopular, but unavoidable, in several stages. Several of our records fall (revenue, turnover, stock).
We manage to acquire a suitably sized warehouse next to the existing one, and by connecting them our stock grows significantly. The company is self-financed and well-capitalised; the suppliers greatly value our financial discipline: there is never any late payment, and our main supplier honours us with an “AA” rating. The average headcount is 20, and the year closes with more than 25% growth.
2005 “Stabilisation”
A busy year: we again take part in one domestic and several international fairs; we publish a new catalogue with 500 new items; we present a completely new website; we consolidate internal order and morale; we place huge emphasis on service quality and on perfecting our processes. We keep precise records, always pay on time, and successfully renew our ISO quality-assurance system.
Our growing turnover proves our competitiveness in both price and service. Surveys show that our customers, suppliers, subcontractors and colleagues are satisfied with us — and so are we, the owners. We exist and we keep developing, unbroken!
2006 “Bursting at the seams”
In January NONOX World, the company’s official magazine, sets off: its aim is direct communication with partners — “information first-hand”. Alongside it, www.menet-trend.hu is redesigned. From 1 May the official Hungarian representation of WEH begins; we exhibit at Industria and Construma.
On 2 April the 1,600 km, 2-week Narconon Tour sets off — an anti-drug bike tour along the country’s borders, so that young people receive credible facts about drugs. Its initiator, organiser and participant is András Szöllősy, the company’s founder.
In September we open a shop at our headquarters: a separate goods-dispatch unit serves walk-in customers, so the warehouse is relieved and the number of complaints drops to a minimum. A successful ISO audit in August. The year closes with around 30% growth — and we have outgrown our old software.
2007 “Switching software”
The plan: start the new year already on the new software. The plan is good, the execution is not — the data won’t load and the launch slips. The workflow slows to an untenable crawl and the number of complaints skyrockets. A dramatic decision: WE’RE ROLLING BACK! We list the faults; the new date is April.
In February we organise a WEH conference at Hotel Hélia with 500 invited guests. We stage the 2006 Narconon Tour again this year — renowned artists stand behind the cause. In July the shop moves to Teve Street; the product range expands with MAKITA power tools, and the number of items exceeds 60,000!
The very last date set is 24 October. The day of the live launch arrives and we plunge into the deep end — but somehow we still force the new system into place. The core team puts in 14–15-hour days, and work continues at the weekend too. “It’s in the storm that a crew is forged!” The year’s end is approaching and we’re preparing for stocktaking.
2008 “The groundhog emerges”
On 2 February the “groundhog emerges” from its 5-year hibernation: the silent partner speaks up — “If there’s a crisis, then we have to shrink! Let’s cut costs, starting with marketing!” By mid-February I’ve had enough of a good thing: 2 weeks of intensive pneumonia, pleurisy and pericarditis all at once. But I won’t give up that easily.
“You can’t work like this,” says our sales manager, and walks out. “I’m going too,” says our logistics manager. We get rid of the sandbags (we didn’t even have to throw them — they jumped by themselves). Baby Fanni arrives in early October — a beautiful, healthy little girl: it seems you can win at this game too, not just lose. There was good and bad in the year, but all’s well that ends well — we closed a good year!
2009 “We turned 15!”
It’s time for a change: by July the agreement is on paper — the buy-out can begin on my side! The end of the tunnel is already in sight. This crisis is a bit like a skiing experience: you have to watch each other’s movements, some flail about with their ski poles, and the timid ones scurry away.
Our Teve Street shop did its job during the software transition, so “in the middle of summer the Camel comes home” to Headquarters. We threw out the “sandbags”, the “Groundhog” crept back into its den, a Star (Robi) rises on the horizon of our sales, Rozi returns from maternity leave, and Sanyi Jónás takes the helm of Logistics. I crown this difficult year with a successful international management course — the best investment is developing your own abilities!
2010 “The Hunger Games”
The “slalom” continues. We change our weapon of choice — in business terms a “profile clean-up”, but in reality we’re reinforcing our strength: “25,000 kinds of acid-resistant fastener for industrial users, in bulk at the best price”.
In July my son Marci is born, and in September our first “chick” hatches, Gyorscsatlakozók.hu Kft. — but it stays in the nest beside “Mother Menet-Trend”. It introduces a new enterprise-management system that runs so well that we ought to introduce it at Menet-Trend too. Our screws are stars in the industry’s sky: power-plant cooling towers in the desert, Olympic stadiums in London, sewage-treatment plants in Csepel, bridge lighting over the Danube.
2011 “The end of the measuring tape”
We can legally switch over to the new enterprise-management system, and with it our chains sink into the deep while our momentum carries us up the next hill. There’s no effort — only improving results and ever more satisfied partners: sales grow substantially in volume and “only” 25% in value.
Work is a joy in a team this good! Robi the Star climbs to the head of sales, and it shows in our results. Further new team members arrive, whom I select myself using a learned recruitment and selection method. For the coming year I promise myself a punchy marketing course — I deserve it!
2012 “Our 3rd move”
The company has never been this stable, even though the “weather conditions” are still unfavourable. Over the course of the year I personally visit more than 200 of our partners, with continuous satisfaction and needs surveys. The staff are recharging, morale is strengthening, and the situation is ripe for a quality change of headquarters.
In the first days of January we cross over the Danube, all the way to Baross Street in District IV, where a pleasant environment and ideal conditions await us and our loyal customers. Everyone is caught up in the pleasant fever of moving — we get to celebrate the 19th anniversary of our existence already at our new home!
2014 “Eastern calm, Western comfort”
Perhaps our most untroubled year so far, one marked by concentrated work. Our customers are starting to get used to the advantages our webshop offers, and we to our new home in Baross. We hold the Business Club for Managers monthly at the Lurdy, with great success.
The only more serious anomaly is that during a heavy rainfall our basement archive floods, and we relocate its entire contents with 2 days of hard teamwork. In August the team-building goulash party is at least as memorable as the year-end banquet.
2015 “Training = revenue”
I don’t like to boast, but this is a good year that yields fine growth. I spend the first 3 months at a training course abroad, which has a good effect on the company. We take on 4 new people: Márti in finance, Cinti in logistics, Nóra in HR, Zoli in the warehouse.
In September the Narconon Bike Tour sets off again — one we didn’t just found, organise and finance, but in which I personally take part on the 2,000-kilometre bike ride. Our slogan: “2,000 km, on 2 wheels, in 2 weeks, for 2,000 children”. In November 2 of our senior colleagues successfully complete their 2.5-year management training, the “Cornerstones”.
2016 “The year of innovation”
Right at the start we launch into the year with a dangerous mission: successfully fending off an attack by the dreaded Crypto Locker virus. The incident is followed by a complete overhaul of our IT system, and then it’s the turn of our telephone system — we build a modern, secure IT and telecommunications system with forward-looking features.
In March we carry out a comprehensive survey of our customer base and develop further along its lessons. New colleagues arrive in sales, who are immediately part of introducing a new CRM as well. In October we exhibit at 2 industrial fairs: TIB in Bucharest and the Automotive Expo in Budapest.
2017 “We are seasoned specialists”
Looking back, these 24 years since we started don’t even seem all that long. This is already our fifth headquarters, and although our current crew’s average length of service is close to 10 years, many faces have come and gone. I feel that everyone here is touched by a more human tone than usual, and that an honest word is worth even more than forints rolling in.
Our outlook is that we don’t sell screws, we provide solutions to what we know best. This year we scheduled and carried out the tidy-up of more than 30,000 of our items in the enterprise-management system, uploaded more than 190,000 new photos to the webshop, and renovated our offices. We are the specialists of stainless-steel fastening — and we introduce products related to this theme: cutting and grinding products, cobalt drill bits, new hand tools.
2019 “We turned a quarter-century old”
I entered the fastener trade as a foreign-trade professional in 1990, when I became sales director of the Top-Nit French-Hungarian screw-distribution company. We founded Menet-Trend as a limited partnership on 1 January 1994; our company later converted into a Kft., and over the years I bought out my partners. My goal is to nurture a strong, defining business that operates honestly under all circumstances.
Over a quarter of a century we have sold several thousand tonnes of high-quality industrial screws — wherever we go in the country, we’re likely to run into our own screws. I love people, especially children, and for their sake I’m willing to make extra efforts too. In 1996 I first cycled around Hungary along its borders; in 2006 I embarked on the first drug-awareness bike tour, the Narconon Bike Tour.
For me, the well-being of my colleagues and support for reaching their goals comes first. I believe that people are fundamentally good and deserve a better lot. The quick-coupling profile began in 2005 at the request of WEH GmbH; Gyorscsatlakozók.hu Kft. was established in September 2010. Our shared slogan: “Industrial screws, industrial couplings — we’re industrious, therefore we are.”
2020 “27 years of checkmating rust”
It’s one thing that something other than water now flows even from the tap, but it’s almost incomprehensible that everything around us seems to bear out the global situation. Amid so many overwhelming world events, it may be refreshing to peek into the everyday life of a small Hungarian company…
In here the work is burning under our hands, and the assembled goods reach their destination on time across the whole country. The feedback is good and encouraging. My own experience with other traders is that they pay little attention to the customer — not so with us: we call everyone back and keep them continuously informed. With us there is no, and never will be, an annoying automated phone system.
Early in the year we bought up the stock of the now-defunct Flávy Kft., and we set out to reach Flávy’s customers one by one and to match — indeed exceed — their expectations in everything. Meanwhile we started other developments too: our 2021 loyalty programme launches soon, we’ll have a new webshop, and new people are coming to speed up the workflow further.
2021 “Against the tide”
2021 is the year of global price rises that swept across the world economy like a tsunami. For our part, we have always done, and will keep doing, everything we can to deliver in line with our agreements and to let no one down. If the rising price level of stainless raw materials is stressing you too, you can discuss your fastener needs with our colleagues in good time and reach an agreement with us for continuous supply.
Feel free to call us on the phone: there is no, and never will be, an automated phone system with number menus, a machine voice and long waits. Our colleagues are patient, friendly and helpful — not by chance, but because we deliberately select our staff this way. We have a webshop too, but you decide which way is more convenient: with us both gates stand open.
In 2021 we grew again, because we care about our customers. For the 28th year we are sailing the great “Industrial Ocean” aboard the deck of one of the world’s most beautiful capitals, Budapest. Celebrate the 28th anniversary of Menet-Trend with us — in 2022 we provide free home delivery on every one of our invoices ending in 28, all year round!
2022 Our “barn-dance” year
Menet-Trend holds its ground because it has answers to the waves of prices, to maintaining stock levels and, above all, to preserving a high standard of human attitude.
You could say we’re having a “barn-dance” year — except it’s not us dancing, but the world beneath our feet. All you hear through the media is what’s going on out in the wide world — but what happens during all this within the walls of a small Hungarian business? For us, solutions are an essential part of our work: with better quality, more favourable terms, faster communication and a more flexible attitude than is required.
How is this possible? The answer: it’s down to our colleagues. Ildikó has strengthened our team for 22 years, Sanyi and Rozi for more than 17, Zoli and Gábor for more than 14. None of them sits backwards on the horse: they don’t watch how the group can contribute to their own success, but how they can contribute to the group’s successes. And that success is the guarantee of that very attitude.
Anyone who sells their products and services responsibly puts the customer first — the customer who must get what they need. Thank you for staying with us in 2022 too, and thank you to our wonderful team members for once again upholding the standard of service that you have come to know and expect from Menet-Trend!
2023 30 years behind us, 30 ahead, 30 reasons alongside us
As often as the weather changed, so did the economic and political fortunes, yet somehow we always came out of every situation well. We didn’t grow weary — quite the opposite: we climbed onto a plateau from which it’s good to look back. Many said there was no future, and yet we built the road beneath our own feet from the seemingly bitter present into that “no-future” — and we’re doing the very same thing now.
The story didn’t actually begin 30 years ago, but 33, when I stepped through the door of the then Top-Nit French-Hungarian Screw-Trading Kft. and Mr Alajos Páll congratulated me, because he had chosen me for the advertised sales position. That’s how we set out to found Menet-Trend Bt. on 1 January 1994, with Alajos Páll and László Otta. The partners gradually stepped away, and I carried the business forward — first alone, then with my wife, Ildikó.
What we consistently do differently: one’s word and honour are worth more than any forint rolling in. While the world automates and chat-robots help out in webshops, we strengthen traditional, personal selling as well. Our profile has been unchanged from the very first minute: the wholesale distribution of stainless and acid-resistant industrial screws. Our decision: we must persistently blend developing technology with human attitude in the best sense of the word. This is Menet-Trend’s credo — stay with us in the coming decades too!
2024 “The flywheel keeps spinning”
We celebrate the company’s 30th anniversary while I, the owner-manager, spend the entire year abroad on further training.
Operations don’t stop, they just run to a different rhythm: regular consultations, decisions talked through, continuous oversight and remote control. At the start of the year the company’s managing director up to then leaves unexpectedly — the organisation has to adapt quickly, and it does. Ildikó holds the framework of daily operations together, and the senior colleagues responsibly carry their tasks forward.
In logistics there’s a tangible change: the warehouse floor area grows, capacity increases, operations become more orderly — all while service stays continuous. A new buyer arrives in the import area, and we expand in sales too: the team not only functions, but keeps building. The 30th anniversary passes not with loud celebration, but rather with encounters — conversations, handshakes, old and new partners.
2024 proves that Menet-Trend is not dependent on individuals or circumstances, but a well-tuned, self-driving machine. The company’s strength lies in its core team — in those colleagues who have worked here for decades, who don’t make problems but stand their ground with persistence.
2025 I’m not just waving from the shore — I’m catching the wind in the sails
After my adventures overseas, I’m standing on the command bridge of my own battleship again. I’ve switched off “remote-control” mode, and now I see with my own eyes: my decisions are born not from hearsay, but from direct experience. Ildikó gladly took back the financial leadership, while I dive into steering production and the daily workflows. I go out to the customers, because first-hand news of which way the market wind is blowing matters more than any spreadsheet.
From the refrain of the old Ricse song, I’ve fused the “8 hours of work” and “8 hours of leisure” into 16 hours of entertaining work. I’m grateful to my loyal team, who create satisfied customers. I seek out new business challenges that keep the company’s momentum going even in the current dry spell. “We’re industrious, therefore we are” — and that’s the most definite truth of all.
On 1 January 2026 we celebrate our 32nd birthday. I’m young enough to enjoy doing what I do and to keep up the high morale that’s characteristic of our company. We have team members with 32, 25, 22, 20 and several 10-year lengths of service. So the flywheel keeps spinning — and you can count on Menet-Trend just as you count on the “timetable”.
Szöllősy András — Founder, Owner