Over the years, Oliver Hermes has been consistently promoting the transformation of the company towards becoming a digital pioneer of the industry. As part of the strategic realignment of the group, the company sped up the internationalisation of the business and made the shift from a component manufacturer into a provider of systems, solutions and services. As a result, the Wilo group has now become a billion euro company.

Oliver Hermes studied economics and majored in East Asian economic studies / China at Gerhard-Mercator University Duisburg and Université d‘Angers in France. Right after starting his career at audit firm KPMG, he passed the exam to become a Certified Public Accountant in New Hampshire in 2001. He subsequently became a partner at KPMG in 2005. The graduate economist is a member of the board of directors of the German Eastern Business Association (OAOEV) and sits on the board of the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV). He has also been the chairman of the board of the German Near and Middle East Association (NUMOV) since summer 2018. Moreover, he is a member of the advisory board of Wickeder Holding and Heitkamp & Thumann Group and a member of the advisory board of Initiativkreis Ruhr. In 2014, Oliver Hermes was awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of the Ruhr Area“.

Mrs. Evi Carola Hoch completed a Magister Artium (Freiburg University), Polonicum (Mainz University) and an Executive Master of Business Administration in International Business (ENPC, Paris). Born in Wolfsburg, she began her career at Vitra Design Foundation in Weil am Rhein, where she curated design and architecture exhibitions in Central Europe and designed international workshops for school students. She then worked as a cultural manager for a German-Polish Cultural Festival held at Burg Reszel in Warmia/Masuria, Poland. From 1998 to 2011 she worked for one of the world’s largest audit and advisory firm in Cologne, Essen, Geneva and Dusseldorf. As an authorised officer and senior manager of that firm, she worked for over seven years in Business Development and Marketing.

In her professional career, she has been focusing on the interface between business and society. She is convinced that education, culture and sport and the values associated with them are essential for any vibrant community.