John Herbert to retire at the end of March

John W. Herbert, co-founder and general secretary of the international DIY retail association Edra/Ghin, plans to retire on 31 March 2026. However, he will continue to support the association, its climate initiative Make it Zero and its Global DIY Summit congress. His successor has already been elected in an agreement with the board and members and will be announced at a later date. The association announced this in a statement.

John W. Herbert co-founded the European DIY Retail Association (Edra) in 2002. On his initiative, the German and French DIY associations – Handelsverband Heimwerken, Bauen und Garten (BHB) and Fédération des Magasins de Bricolage (FMB) – launched a European umbrella organisation. Edra was intended to be a unified voice for DIY, home improvement and gardening retailers across Europe. In 2015, at the request of DIY store operators outside Europe, the association was expanded to include the Global Home Improvement Network (Ghin).

In his 22 years as managing director, Herbert travelled 496 times to all parts of the world and built the association from two national associations into a network representing 232 retail companies worldwide, operating more than 35,000 stores in 79 countries and generating annual sales of more than EUR 400 bn. The Global DIY Summit, a worldwide industry congress, was also initiated by John W. Herbert.

The newly elected Edra/Ghin President Erwin Van Osta says of the outgoing Managing Director: "John Herbert leaves behind an extraordinary legacy. His vision, determination and personal commitment transformed a small European initiative into a respected worldwide network and a trusted voice for our sector. On behalf of the Board and our members, I would like to thank John for his decades of leadership and service. We are grateful for his willingness to remain involved and supportive as we build on the strong foundations he has created."

John W. Herbert himself explains: “It is the right time to leave the industry with a career spanning 70 years in retailing. It has been an honour and a privilege to unite the industry under the umbrella of EDRA/GHIN and bring it together with our annual Global DIY-Summit. I am also stepping back knowing that I have the most suitable and well-qualified successor.”

Born in Yorkshire in 1941, John W. Herbert started his retail career at the age of 14 as a shop assistant at York Co-op on 31 March 1956, exactly 70 years before his retirement. In 1962, he joined the British Army and in January of the following year he was called into the British Army of the Rhine in Germany. Until 1975, he worked as a regional manager in the Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes (NAFFI) stores. After leaving the army, he worked in food retail in Germany and managed some of the hypermarkets.

His appointment as director of Savacentre, Sainsbury's hypermarket model in the United Kingdom, had a significant impact on his career. From 1977 to 1979, Herbert managed one of the first and largest of these stores in the United Kingdom.

However, he returned to Germany, where he continued to manage such stores. In 1983, he was appointed managing director of Knauber, a family-run regional chain of DIY and home improvement stores. He has been working in this industry ever since.

In October 2000, it was announced that Herbert was to become president of The Home Depot's Expo Design Division West in the United States. He was responsible for California, Colorado and Texas. However, he left the company in 2002 – after being promoted and fired in the same meeting, as he reported.

So John W. Herbert returned to Germany and, at the age of 62, started something of a second career: he became co-managing director of the German DIY trade association BHB, left in 2008 and has since devoted himself entirely to the Edra project he initiated.