Networking the European way

It is impossible to imagine the European DIY and garden scene without the two international umbrella associations: on the retail side, the European DIY Retail Association (Edra) with the international extension Global Home Improvement Network (Ghin), and on the manufacturer side, the Home Improvement Manufacturers Association (Hima).

That was not always the case. It took visionary protagonists to drive this development. Of course, the name John Herbert comes up first here. "When I returned from the USA in 2002, I was offered the management of the BHB by its president Manfred Maus," he recalls. "Immediately after I joined the BHB, we discussed the possibility of kick-starting a European federation, and I thought it could be an excellent opportunity to learn from each other - on the strict condition that no competition law aspects would be affected." So Edra was founded in September 2002 with the BHB and the French DIY trade association FMB as founding members.

"Learning from each other, this idea has now attracted 226 Home Improvement companies as members worldwide; they operate in 78 countries with 34 000 markets and a total turnover of more than EUR 340 bn," Herbert sums up. "And we are still growing."

The counterpart to this is the Hima. Its origins lie in the European Federation of DIY Manufacturers (Fediyma), which was launched in March 2000 by the founding members BHETA (United Kingdom), Herstellerverband Haus & Garten (Germany) and Inoha (France). Later, Hima Benelux (formerly Febin) (Belgium), Made4DIY (Italy), Afeb (Spain) and IVG (Germany) also joined.

"As an international network of suppliers and manufacturers from the DIY, gardening, building materials and furniture sectors, Hima is shaping the future of the industry," is how Chairman Reinhard Wolff, managing partner of Wolfcraft, describes its importance. As the umbrella organisation of the national associations, it represents the interests of more than 1 000 manufacturers who together account for around 80 per cent of the European DIY market.

"They all benefit from the advantages of belonging to a national association and an international network," says Wolff. On the one hand, Hima's main focus is on networking, especially through the Global DIY Summit and the Virtual DIY Summit, which the two associations jointly host to bring dealers and manufacturers from all over the world into…