Two of Leeds’ longest-running networking events are back this autumn — Yorkshire Mafia’s Leeds Business Social on 24 September, and Silicon North’s Leeds Lunch on 1 October. Both promise the same thing: real conversation, no sales pitches.
Yorkshire Mafia, one of the UK’s longest-established independent business communities, connects founders, business owners, senior leaders and professionals from across the region.
Its Leeds Business Social is a relaxed evening built around conversation, not sales pitches — a chance to meet other members of Yorkshire’s business community, whether growing a business, expanding a network, or simply catching up with familiar faces. Attendees can come alone, bring colleagues, or invite guests.
The event runs from 5pm to 10pm on Thursday 24 September at The Banksia, Hotel Indigo, 2 Lower Briggate, Leeds (LS1 4AE).
The network has grown to include more than 28,000 approved LinkedIn members, and says it has generated more than £150 million for the regional economy. It began life as a LinkedIn networking group, founded in November 2008 by Geoff Shepherd, and now has its headquarters in Leeds. At its second conference, in April 2012, around 3,000 people attended to hear from Wade Burgess, LinkedIn’s director for northern Europe, and Ivan Heneghan, then head of strategic client services at Facebook. Despite that scale, the network still describes itself as “a tight-knit group of diverse industry executives who share a homogenous interest in the advancement of the Yorkshire region.”
Silicon North, the North of England’s technology community, is hosting its Leeds Lunch, one of the city’s few large business lunches, bringing together founders, senior leaders, investors, entrepreneurs and technology professionals in a sales-free environment. The lunch also features influential voices from across the Northern technology economy, and includes a two-course lunch, welcome drinks, and networking time before and after.
Tables are sold at cost price in seating arrangements of eight, ten or twelve, at £40 per place.
The lunch runs from 11am to 3pm on Thursday 1 October at Bibis, Criterion Place, off Sovereign Street, Leeds.
