Now including Brexit and Trump

The organisers of the 5th Global DIY Summit have updated the summit's conference programme. A session on the topic "Market update - facing new global challenges" has been added with two presentations on the effect of Brexit and one on the question of how things will continue for the US home improvement market with Donald Trump as president.A new programme item is also, for example, the DIY Startup Arena with "newcomers that are already transforming our industry," as it is called in the programme. The two-day congress on 8 and 9 June in Berlin, will not only be attended by many leadership personalities from the international DIY and garden industry, but also experts from the corporate consulting company Deloitte and KPMG, as well as representatives from Facebook and Google. The organisers, the European trade and industry associations Edra/Ghin and Fediyma, are expecting a total of more than 900 participants - a new record for the international DIY and garden industry summit.

The former Lowe's manager Gregory M. Bridgeford is to receive the Global DIY Lifetime Award 2017. The announcement was made by the three associations that bestow the award: the European DIY Retail Association (Edra), the Federation of the European DIY Manufacturers (Fediyma) and the Global Home Improvement Network (Ghin).The award will be presented at the Global DIY Summit in Berlin on 8 June 2017. Richard Maltsbarger, Chief Development Officer and President, International of Lowe's will hold the laudation as part of the Gala Evening at the Velodrom track cycling arena in Berlin.Gregory Bridgeford joined Lowe's in 1982 as executive assistant to the chairman and over his 32-year career served in a variety of increasingly responsible positions including senior vice-president for merchandising, marketing and business development. In his role as Lowe's first head of international business he pioneered the company's entry into Canada and Mexico. He also served as a critical architect in the earliest stage of Lowe's most recent acquisition of Rona in Canada, according to a press release. His last role before stepping down was as chief customer officer.Gregory Bridgeford initiated Lowe's involvement in Edra/Ghin and was a…