Link Up Networking
Real conversations. Real relationships.
No pitching required.
Link Up Networking turns LinkedIn connections into real relationships, through relaxed, in-person meet-ups with no pitching and no pressure.
You’ve probably got a decent network on LinkedIn already. You comment on a few posts, send the odd message, maybe you’ve even done business with people you’ve never actually met in person. Link Up Networking is where you close that gap: a relaxed, in-person meet-up that brings your online connections into the real world, and gives you the chance to meet the person behind the profile.
There’s a light structure to each session, but no hard selling, no queue to deliver a sixty-second pitch, and no pressure to work the room like it’s an interview. Just good people, good venues, and the kind of conversation that actually leads somewhere. Bring your business cards. Leave the pitch at home.
A new name, same community
You may know these meet-ups as LinkedIn Local. A policy change from LinkedIn means organisers everywhere are moving away from that name, us included, so you’ll now see it as Link Up Networking. Nothing else has changed: same relaxed, welcoming atmosphere, same focus on real conversation over hard selling, same hosts, same community. Just a new name on the door.
If you’ve been coming for years, thank you for being part of it. If you’re new, you’ll fit right in.
Hosted by people who are there for the community
Guildford: hosted by Rebecca Newenham
Rebecca is a business owner, mentor, franchise consultant and long-standing champion of networking with purpose. She has spent more than fifteen years growing businesses through the power of relationships, and has hosted this community, under one name or another, for more than seven years. If you’re a Surrey-based business owner, freelancer or professional who values connection over cold selling, you’ll feel at home.
Rebecca set up the award-winning virtual agency Get Ahead VA in 2010, and has grown the agency through franchising to now have a national presence.
Horsham: hosted by Natasha Doran
Natasha is Get Ahead’s Regional Director for East Surrey and West Sussex, and brings Link Up to Horsham. Her own connection to the business started the way these meetings hope to work for you: through LinkedIn, long before any direct conversation took place. “You seem to pop up everywhere on my social media, my LinkedIn,” she said to Rebecca. “And I just thought, you know what…”
Running her own event wasn’t the original plan. “Even though that filled me with dread, it’s probably one of the things I’ve enjoyed the most,” she says of hosting Horsham. Every attendee is personally welcomed and introduced at the door, the kind of detail that brings along people who might never otherwise walk into a networking event.
Camberley: hosted by Frances Cassell & Siobhan Goodchild
Frances founded her marketing consultancy, Octopus Marketing, in 2012, after a corporate career spanning IT, sport, recruitment, pensions and employee benefits. She now works with owner-led businesses and heads of marketing to build and deliver marketing strategy across a wide range of industries, and mentors start-ups, business owners and career-changers looking to grow their own marketing knowledge and confidence. Networking sits at the heart of how Frances works with her clients, who see it as integral to building strong businesses, developing real relationships and unlocking the power of referral.
Siobhan provides HR support to small businesses and charities through her consultancy, Face2Face HR, on either a retained or ad hoc basis. She takes the time to properly understand each organisation she works with, from a first hire to the employee issues that get put off because nobody’s quite sure how to approach them, so her advice stays practical and specific to the business in front of her. Her background spans manufacturing, distribution, technology, outsourced services and the charity sector, and she currently sits as a Trustee shaping employee strategy for a local charity, bringing that same grounded, people-first approach to Camberley’s Link Up community.
Where we meet
Link Up Networking Horsham meets monthly at Koffie on North Street, a fabulous independent local business with beautiful surroundings and superb coffee. Buy a drink, find a conversation.
Link Up Networking Camberley meets on the last Wednesday of the month (excluding August and December) at The Ely on London Road. The country pub venue has a wonderful outdoor space for summer months and a cosier indoor space when the weather turns cooler. We offer complimentary tea and coffee.
Link Up Networking Guildford meets twice a month, with one morning and one evening event each month, usually at venues around the town centre. One of the joys of the Guildford meetings is the chance to visit venues that we may not be familiar with, and and to discover new local favourites (take a bow, Mandira).
We love showcasing new venues to the local business community, and are immensely grateful for the support and welcome that these brilliant businesses have provided.
What people say about Link Up Networking
The businesses that back us – thank you to our kind sponsors
If you’d like to find out more about sponsoring a Link Up meeting, then please get in touch using the contact form below. We’d love to hear from you.
Moments from Link Up Networking
Upcoming Meetings
Wed
30
Sep
Link Up Networking Camberley
Wed
7
Oct
Link Up Guildford Networking - 7th October at The Ragged Robin Godalming
Tue
13
Oct
Link Up Networking Horsham
Wed
21
Oct
Link Up Guildford Evening Networking - 21st October at The County Club
Tue
10
Nov
Link Up Networking Horsham
Tue
8
Dec
Link Up Networking Horsham
Tue
12
Jan
Link Up Networking Horsham
Tue
9
Feb
Link Up Networking Horsham
FAQs
Link Up meetings in Guildford and Horsham are free, though some venues may ask you to buy a drink or a coffee as a thank you for hosting us.
Link Up meetings in Camberley have a small charge to cover venue costs – and this does also include a hot drink.
Local business owners, freelancers and professionals who’d rather build real relationships than trade pitches. You don’t need to be a networking veteran, and you don’t need to be a natural extrovert either.
We recommend it so we can keep an eye on numbers, but you are welcome to drop in. Check the individual event listing for details.
Not at all. Plenty of people come to meet new faces as well as familiar ones. LinkedIn is where the connection often starts, not a condition of entry.
No. There’s a light structure to each session, but no hard selling, no awkward pitching and no pressure. Bring your business cards, leave the pitch at home.
Business cards if you have them, but mostly just yourself. Some people bring a notepad. Most bring an open mind.
Yes, you’re welcome at every Link Up Networking event, and to both morning and evening meetings. They’re run separately but built on the same principles.
Get Connected is our free, drop-in business meet-up series across the wider south of England, run in partnership with Metro Bank. Link Up is smaller and more personal: it grew out of LinkedIn Local, is hosted by named hosts, and is built specifically around bringing existing online connections into the room.
No. That’s exactly what Link Up is designed to avoid. There’s always someone on the door to welcome you, and no expectation that you already know anyone in the room.
