Thank you, John

Journalistic texts should not contain this one word: I. In this case, however, I cannot avoid it. Writing about John Herbert's departure from the big stage and his important role as general secretary of the European DIY trade association Edra/Ghin, which we reported at DIY International, without mentioning what this has to do with me is impossible.

For me, everything I have done in my work in the international DIY industry has been connected to John Herbert. Without him, the great networker and communicator, including me in his network, many doors would have remained closed to me, many contacts would have been out of reach, and my reporting on this industry would simply not have been possible.

I write this so openly because I know that many others have had and continue to have a similar experience. Everyone you ask about their relationship with John Herbert gives the same answer: John helped me.

What does this help consist of? John Herbert is convinced that common goals can only be achieved together. So he builds communities.

He did this during his 17 years at the German regional DIY chain Knauber, whose customer and employee focus was legendary and largely the work of John Herbert.

After his interlude at Home Depot (which he left because the team spirit wasn't working), he brought this spirit with him to the German DIY retailers’ association BHB as managing director.

And he materialised this spirit, so to speak, in his role as BHB managing director by initiating a grand idea– one whose foresight was only truly understood later and was therefore somewhat daring at the time – and putting it into practice together with the French DIY association FMB: the establishment of a European umbrella organisation for DIY store operators and their national associations.

That's easy to say today. We, who have been meeting at the Global DIY-Summit every year since 2011 in ever-increasing numbers, tend to take this for granted. But it's not.

For me, what has always made this event so special is that it not only brings together some of the most important people in the DIY industry worldwide, but above all that these people are approachable. They come to talk to each other.

There is a specific reason why this concept works, and that reason is John Herbert. His method is as simple as it is proven: he simply leads by example.

Even though it's impossible to imagine the international DIY scene without John Herbert, Sir John, as he is often called, is now retiring. He will continue to support Edra/Ghin. But nevertheless, now is a good time to say to him: Thank you, John.

Rainer Strnad

(Managing editor of DIY International)