Professor Andrew Henley

Professor Andy Henley is Professor of Entrepreneurship and Economics at Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University. He recently completed a five-year term as Director of Research Engagement and Impact for the School and led on two successful Small Business Charter accreditations. Much of Andy’s research focuses on questions of who chooses to become an entrepreneur, and why and where they choose to do so. He is particularly interested in applications of longitudinal data. His research also focuses on entrepreneurial leadership and small business performance. He has published over 60 papers in leading academic journals in entrepreneurship, economics, and regional studies, as well as contributing to several recent edited books. He led on small business and research integration for the ESRC Productivity Insights Network between 2018 and 2021 and is currently lead in Wales for the ESRC Productivity Institute.

He served on the Economic and Social Research Council’s Methods and Infrastructure Committee and Capability Committee between 2012 and 2019. Between 2002 and 2012 he was a member of the Welsh Government’s Economic Research Advisory Panel, advising the First Minister on economic research and policy, and has also been a member of the Welsh Government’s Youth Entrepreneurship Strategy panel. He has also been a director of the Wales Management Council. Andy was elected to Fellowship of the Learned Society of Wales in 2017.

Prior to his current appointment, Andy held professorial positions at Aberystwyth University, where he was Dean of the Institute of Management, Law and Information Science, and at Swansea University, where he was Head of the School of Business and Economics, and was Director of the EU-funded LEAD Wales programme supporting entrepreneurs in leadership and strategy development.