Who is Andy Corness and why did he found ENC?
I am chemist by training, I have spent 20 years building a career within technical recruitment, leading teams, building businesses and working with some of the industry’s biggest brands across Chemical, Advanced Materials, Life Sciences and associated industries.
I founded ENC because I have always been fascinated by the industries that quietly shape how we live, work and progress. Having spent my career supporting chemicals, advanced materials and life sciences businesses, I saw firsthand how rapidly these markets were evolving.
Today's industrial leaders are not only developing the next generation of chemicals, materials and medicines; they are also advancing circular economy technologies, clean energy solutions, digital infrastructure, water management systems and the data centres that underpin modern society.
The same innovations driving sustainability, resource efficiency and digital transformation are creating new opportunities across multiple industries.
The boundaries between sectors are becoming increasingly blurred. What connects them is a shared need for innovation, engineering excellence and exceptional talent. ENC was created to help the organisations building the future attract the people capable of delivering it.
Ultimately, ENC was founded on the belief that great industries are built by great people, and that connecting the right talent with the right opportunity can have a lasting impact on businesses, innovation and society.
Over the last 20 years, I have had the privilege of supporting organisations through a range of key leadership appointments, managing projects to establish new sustainable technology divisions within global businesses, and partnering with spin-out and scale-up companies as they move from concept and pilot stage through to commercial manufacture.
Whilst case studies provide a snapshot of that journey, they rarely tell the full story. The context, the challenges faced, the lessons learned and the outcomes achieved are often best discussed in person. Whilst these examples provide reassurance and demonstrate expertise, no two organisations are the same. Culture, leadership style, stage of growth, technical capability and business objectives all play a part. Understanding those differences, and how they influence the people a business needs, is where experience really matters.
Having spent much of my career building teams and businesses, I understand the importance of making the right hiring decisions. For that reason, I chose not to build ENC around delegation, offshoring or volume. Every search, every client relationship and every candidate interaction is personally managed by me. It means I remain close to the market, close to my clients and fully accountable for the outcomes I deliver.
ENC is supported by industry-leading technology, research tools and recruitment platforms, but the technology supports the process, whilst the responsibility stays with me. What truly differentiates the business is my experience, insight and the network I have built over the last two decades.
In an increasingly automated world, I still believe that recruitment, executive search and talent advisory are fundamentally about people.
If clients and candidates choose to work with ENC, it is not because of the technology. It is because they are working directly with someone who understands the industries, has spent two decades building relationships across them, and genuinely cares about helping great businesses and great people achieve their ambitions.
The industries are changing. Technology is changing. Talent remains the differentiator.