The Board of the European DIY Retail Association (EDRA), the Home Improvement Manufacturers Association (HIMA) and the Global Home Improvement Network (GHIN) are delighted to announce that industry veteran, John W. Herbert, has been selected to receive the industry’s Global DIY Lifetime Award 2022 to be presented during the Gala Dinner on the 9th of June 2022 at the Global DIY Summit in Copenhagen. 

John W. Herbert has been in retailing since 1956, for an incredible 66 years, and in the home improvement and DIY industry since 1983. He was the Managing Director of the family-owned Knauber chain for 17 years, until 2000. In 1993 Knauber was named as one of the “World Stores” in the then internationally recognised US Home Centre News Magazine. In 2001 John was appointed President of The Home Depot EXPO Design Center for the West Coast of America. 

In 2002 John returned to Germany as Managing Director of the BHB and became co-founder of EDRA. He has been at the helm of the international association since 2004, also founding GHIN in 2015, and making 440 journeys to almost every significant home improvement company around the world in this time. EDRA/GHIN would not be where is it today, representing the entire spectrum of the home improvement industry with 219 members, if not for “the great communicator”, as highlighted by DIY International.  

On receiving the news that the respective Boards of EDRA/GHIN and HIMA would be awarding the Global DIY Lifetime Award to him, John stated, “I am honoured to receive this great accolade at the reunion of the industry after two difficult years of not meeting face-to-face.”  Sergio Giroldi, President of EDRA/GHIN, emphasized this decision by affirming that “John’s contribution to the industry is incomparable and I really appreciate his dedication in bringing together the international community of home improvement.”      

Reinhard Wolff, President of HIMA, welcomed the decision and said “I have always regarded John as an inspiring person, dedicated to his work, confident and dynamic and all with his incomparable British humour.”