UPDATED mid-month and ahead of each new month
Where to find business networking events in Leeds
Leeds is the commercial centre of Yorkshire, and the city hosts more business networking events than anywhere else in the region. Whether you are a startup founder looking for investors, an SME owner building your client base, or a professional expanding your contacts across the city, Leeds has a networking calendar to match. The city's business networking scene spans everything from informal coffee meetups and breakfast briefings to structured investor showcases and major industry conferences.
Below are the groups, events, and networking in Leeds. We update this guide monthly as new events are announced and existing ones evolve.
Upcoming Events — September 2026
n8n Leeds Meetup #2 — The Knowledge Exchange
📅 Thursday 10 September, 12:00pm · 📍 The Knowledge Exchange, The Rose Bowl, Leeds Beckett University · Free
The second meetup for the growing n8n Leeds community — and this one is hands-on. Bring a laptop and a real business problem, and build your own AI-powered automation with support from fellow builders, founders, and automation enthusiasts. Suitable whether you're new to n8n or already building workflows.
Leeds & West Yorkshire Partnerships with Purpose Forum
📅 Thursday 10 September, 8:00 AM · 📍 Tetra Tech, Holbeck · Free
A free morning forum connecting businesses with purpose-led partnership opportunities across Leeds and West Yorkshire.
Spire Barristers Public Law Conference 2026
📅 Thursday 10 September, 8:30 AM · 📍 Cloth Hall Court, Leeds
A full-day conference for public law professionals hosted by Spire Barristers — sector-specific networking and CPD, following their well-attended family law conference in July.
Digital Clubhouse
📅 Thursday 10 September, 9:00 AM · 📍 Department, Leeds Dock · ⚡ Sold out
A morning gathering for the Leeds digital community at Department on Leeds Dock.
W!NK Leeds
📅 Thursday 10 September, 1:00 PM · 📍 Canal Club, Holbeck
A lunchtime networking session at the Canal Club in Holbeck.
Leeds Tech Leadership Event
📅 Thursday 10 September, 5:30 PM · 📍 Banyan Bar & Kitchen, Leeds · Free
A free after-work gathering for tech leaders, CTOs, and engineering managers across the Leeds tech scene.
Brick and Banter — September Event
📅 Thursday 10 September, 6:30 PM · 📍 Nyla's, Chapel Allerton
Informal evening property networking in Chapel Allerton — a relaxed alternative to the city centre circuit.
People Planet Pint — Sustainability Meetup
📅 Thursday 10 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 The Brew Society, Leeds · Free
The monthly informal meetup for anyone interested in business sustainability, from net zero beginners to seasoned practitioners.
Leeds Coffee Club by Agency Folk
📅 Friday 11 September, 9:30 AM · 📍 The Brew Society, Leeds · Free
A free, informal coffee morning for agency folk and the wider creative and marketing community.
DARETOGROW / Live Leeds: Talk, Networking and Workshop
📅 Monday 14 September, 8:30 AM · 📍 Horizon Leeds
A morning combining a growth-focused talk, workshop, and networking for ambitious business owners.
She Business Networking Event
📅 Monday 14 September, 10:30 AM · 📍 Brabners, Leeds
A morning networking event for women in business, hosted at Brabners' Leeds offices.
Network One: Fintech Founders / Entrepreneurs & Business Builders
📅 Tuesday 15 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Sky Lounge, Leeds · Free
Network One's mid-month date runs two strands side by side — fintech founders and finance innovators alongside entrepreneurs and business builders.
Growth Through People: Transitioning Your Workforce from Good to Great
📅 Wednesday 16 September, 9:00 AM · 📍 Bowcliffe Hall, Wetherby · Free
A morning session at Bowcliffe Hall on building high-performing teams — relevant for HR leaders, business owners, and senior managers.
Buzzwords Over Breakfast
📅 Wednesday 16 September, 10:00 AM · 📍 All Work and Social Department, Leeds Dock
A breakfast networking session at Leeds Dock cutting through business jargon over coffee and conversation.
Networking Social — The After Work Club x Bibis
📅 Wednesday 16 September, 5:30 PM · 📍 Bibis Restaurant, Leeds
The After Work Club's September social heads to Leeds institution Bibis, combining informal networking with after-work drinks. Open to professionals across all sectors.
Garforth Business Networking
📅 Wednesday 16 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 The Cocktail Pickers Club, Garforth
An evening networking event for businesses in Garforth and east Leeds. A relaxed local format for building connections outside the city centre.
The Life Science Revolution: Leading the Way on Cutting Edge Technology
📅 Thursday 17 September, 8:00 AM · 📍 The Rose Bowl, Leeds Beckett University
A breakfast session on the growth of the Leeds life sciences and health innovation sector — one of the city's fastest-moving clusters.
Get Connected Leeds
📅 Thursday 17 September, 10:00 AM · 📍 Clockwise, Leeds · Free
A free mid-morning networking session at Clockwise for professionals and small business owners.
An Evening Above the City: BBQ, Drinks & Networking
📅 Thursday 17 September, 4:00 PM · 📍 DoubleTree by Hilton, Leeds City Centre
Rooftop BBQ, drinks and networking at the DoubleTree — a late-summer social for professionals across all sectors.
Also on Thursday 17 September — Around the City
📅 Thursday 17 September · 📍 Various Leeds venues · Mostly free
A packed Thursday: An Introduction to Tax and Bookkeeping (Business & IP Centre, Leeds Central Library, 10:00 AM, free), Clear Work: Business Without the Burnout (Clockwise, 12:30 PM), Find Your First AI Agent — Hands-On Workshop (Platform, 2:00 PM, free), Leeds Chinese Professionals Networking (Work Café Santander, 5:00 PM, free), Leeds Social Networking Club (Rita's Beer Hall, 5:30 PM, free), Leeds Property People pub meetup (The Adelphi, 6:30 PM, free), and Property Deal Network Leeds (Manahatta Greek Street, 7:00 PM, free).
Cowork Crew Leeds
📅 Friday 18 September, 9:00 AM · 📍 Department, Leeds Dock
A day of structured co-working and connections at Department on Leeds Dock.
Freelance Curious Pub Social
📅 Friday 18 September, 5:30 PM · 📍 Piglove by the River, Leeds · Free
A free, informal Friday social for freelancers and the freelance-curious at Piglove's riverside taproom.
Amazon Seller Meet Up — From First Sale to Full Scale
📅 Saturday 19 September, 10:00 AM · 📍 Leeds city centre · Free
A free Saturday meetup for Amazon and e-commerce sellers at every stage, from first sale to scaling up.
Festival Opening Monday — Six Free Sessions Across the City
📅 Monday 21 September · 📍 Various Leeds venues · All free · Leeds Digital Festival opens
Leeds Digital Festival opens with a full day of free sessions: When AI Joins Your Leadership Team (NatWest Accelerator, 8:00 AM), Demystifying GEO (It's Just SEO) (Banyan, 8:00 AM), The LegalTech Confessional: AI in Practice (Platform, 8:30 AM), From Attention to Trust: Building Brands in a Sceptical World (Genio, 8:30 AM), What Compliance Misses: From Accessible to Truly Inclusive Design (The Brew Society, 10:00 AM), and Beyond the Hype: Practical AI for Yorkshire SMEs (NatWest Accelerator, 3:00 PM).
Beyond Borders — UKEF x Lifted Ventures Global Female Founder Event
📅 Tuesday 22 September, 11:45 AM · 📍 Nexus, University of Leeds · Free
UK Export Finance and Leeds-based Lifted Ventures bring together female founders with global ambitions — export finance, international scaling, and connections at Nexus.
Mayor's Question Time with Tracy Brabin
📅 Tuesday 22 September, 6:30 PM · 📍 Avenue HQ, East Parade, Leeds · Free (booking required)
Put your questions to the Mayor of West Yorkshire on transport, mass transit, housing, skills, and the regional economy. Questions must be submitted in advance and photo ID is required.
Finance Leadership in Practice: ESG, Commercial Value & the CFO Journey
📅 Tuesday 22 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Radisson Blu, Leeds City Centre · Free
An evening panel for finance leaders on ESG, commercial value, and the modern CFO role.
The Marketing Meetup IRL: Leeds
📅 Tuesday 22 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Genio (formerly Glean), Leeds
The Marketing Meetup's Leeds edition brings marketers together for talks and genuinely friendly networking.
IWIRC Yorkshire & North East — Be Inspired Dinner
📅 Tuesday 22 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Brasserie Blanc, Leeds
A dinner for women in restructuring, insolvency, and the wider professional services community across Yorkshire and the North East.
Also on Tuesday 22 September — Festival Sessions & More
📅 Tuesday 22 September · 📍 Various Leeds venues · All free
A full day across the city: Leeds Inclusive Employer Network (Squire Patton Boggs, 8:00 AM), Bytes and Brews (The Rose Bowl, 8:30 AM), Are You an Employer in the Tech Sector? (Dakota Hotel, 9:00 AM), Food, Place, People: The Leeds Food Action Plan (St George's Centre, 9:30 AM), Make the Workplace Human Again (Work Café Santander, 9:30 AM), NatWest Accelerator Funding Readiness & Sales Growth launch (10:00 AM), Tough at the Top — Fundraising Leaders' Networking (Virgin Money, 10:30 AM), From Imposter to Impact (SCC, 12:30 PM), The Great AI Productivity Lie (The Terrace, 5:00 PM), Secure to Scale: Build for What's Next (Irwin Mitchell, 5:00 PM), and Building Capability Together — Flutter Entertainment's PMO Story (4 Wellington Place, 6:00 PM). Plus paid morning networking in Wetherby at HR180 (9:30 AM).
The Lending Summit 2026
📅 Wednesday 23 September, 10:00 AM · 📍 Fearns, Leeds Dock · Free
A free summit at Leeds Dock for the lending and finance community — timely given the city's standing as the UK's second-largest financial services hub.
Venture.Community StartUp Showcase — Leeds Digital
📅 Wednesday 23 September, 1:00 PM · 📍 Avenue HQ, East Parade · Free
A festival-week startup showcase bringing founders, experts, and the Leeds investment community together at Avenue HQ.
Co-Working with The Fold
📅 Wednesday 23 September, 9:30 AM · 📍 Deliziosa, Chapel Allerton
Relaxed co-working and networking for self-employed women in Chapel Allerton.
Leeds FinTech Mixer 4.0
📅 Wednesday 23 September, 5:00 PM · 📍 Salon Madre, Leeds
The fourth edition of the Leeds FinTech Mixer, connecting founders, banks, and investors across the city's growing fintech scene.
Elevating Your Potential — Sector Networking Series
📅 Wednesday 23 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Brooklyn, Leeds · Free
The free sector-based networking evening returns to Brooklyn — note it has moved to the fourth Wednesday this month — with streams spanning finance, tech, law, real estate, media, healthcare, engineering, hospitality and more.
Also on Wednesday 23 September — Festival Sessions & More
📅 Wednesday 23 September · 📍 Various Leeds venues · All free
Building High Performing Teams (Panintelligence, 8:30 AM), Living Lab — Digital Adoption for Business Growth (The Rose Bowl, 8:30 AM), Fight Club of Tax (The Loft Coffee Shop, 10:00 AM), Delivering Value Sooner (humanSpaces, 12:30 PM), Progress Check: Women in Tech — How Are We Doing? (Horizon Leeds, 1:00 PM), Beyond the Algorithm: High-Performance Brands Built by People (Platform, 2:00 PM), Squiggly Design Careers panel (The Brew Society, 5:30 PM), and Silicon Mingle — Manchester x Leeds Digital (The End, 6:00 PM).
Yorkshire Mafia Leeds Business Social
📅 Thursday 24 September, 5:00 PM · 📍 Hotel Indigo, Leeds · Free
The Yorkshire Mafia returns with a free evening social for founders, operators, investors, and advisors building serious businesses across Yorkshire.
UK Homes Network LIVE — Leeds
📅 Thursday 24 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Archive, Little Woodhouse
An evening event for property investors and developers as the UK Homes Network brings its live series to Leeds.
Also on Thursday 24 September — Festival Sessions & More
📅 Thursday 24 September · 📍 Various Leeds venues · All free
ACR & Heat Pump Regional Exhibition (Village Hotel Leeds South, from 8:30 AM), Let's Talk About CX: Changing Expectations (Clockwise, 9:30 AM), Search Is Getting Weird… (Flaunt Digital HQ, 10:00 AM), Property Coffee Morning (Starbucks, Holbeck, 10:30 AM), When Tech Projects Go Wrong — how mediation saves time, money and relationships (Platform, 12:30 PM), UX Leeds 2026: UX, Product, CX & Digital Transformation (The Wardrobe, 1:15 PM), and Personal Branding for CEOs and Founders, Without the Cringe (ThreeTenSeven, Oakwood, 6:00 PM).
Monday 28 September — Free Afternoon Sessions
📅 Monday 28 September · 📍 Avenue HQ & NatWest Accelerator · All free
Fuelling the Workplace with the Next Generation (Avenue HQ, 2:00 PM) and Brass Tacks: An AI Workshop for SMEs (NatWest Accelerator, 3:00 PM).
Festival Fortnight · 21 September – 2 October
Leeds Digital Festival 2026
📅 21 September – 2 October · 📍 Venues across Leeds · 213 events, most free
The UK's largest open-platform tech festival returns for its 11th year — and its biggest yet, with 213 events across two weeks and a first full festival for new director Deb Hetherington, who takes over from founder Stuart Clarke MBE. This year's programme, backed by headline sponsor CGI, moves the AI conversation from hype to real-world deployment, showcasing a Leeds tech sector now worth £1.67bn. Several festival events appear in the listings below — including our own Leeds 2031 panel on 29 September.
Leeds 2031: Insight into a Northern Powerhouse — A Leeds Today Event
📅 Tuesday 29 September, 4:00 PM · 📍 CGI, 1 Whitehall Quay · Free, registration required · Part of Leeds Digital Festival
Our own panel event — see the feature above. Zandra Moore MBE chairs The Data City's Alex Craven, CGI UK CTO Rich McIntyre, and PXN Ventures' Lizzie Young for a data-led look at the next five years of the Leeds economy. 100 places only — register your interest.
Leeds Entrepreneur Social Networking
📅 Tuesday 29 September, 5:00 PM · 📍 The Decanter, Leeds · Free
An evening social networking event for entrepreneurs at The Decanter — a relaxed setting for founders and business builders to connect.
Get to the Point — Leeds Digital Festival 2026
📅 Tuesday 29 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Genio, Leeds
An evening of short, sharp talks as part of Leeds Digital Festival 2026 — the city's flagship tech and digital festival returns this month.
Network One: AI & Machine Learning / Exclusive Business Owners
📅 Tuesday 29 September, 6:00 PM · 📍 Sky Lounge, Leeds · Free
Network One closes its September run with two strands — AI and machine learning professionals alongside established business owners.
Also on Tuesday 29 September — Festival Sessions & More
📅 Tuesday 29 September · 📍 Various Leeds venues · Mostly free
A festival-heavy Tuesday: Stories of an AI Founder: What It Really Takes to Build an AI Tool (Royal Armouries, 9:30 AM), The B2B Tech Digital Ecoverse (The Brew Society, 9:30 AM), Masterclass: Scaling the Future — Go-to-Market & Ecosystem with Google (2 Whitehall Quay, 10:00 AM), Fundraising 101 with Lauren Hartley, Deals Manager at KPMG (Nexus, 10:00 AM), The Staging and Design Exchange (Dakota Hotel, 12:00 PM, £45), Turning Data into Place-Based Insights (Millennium Suite, 12:30 PM), Masterclass: Architecting Autonomous Agents — Technical Deep Dive with Google (2 Whitehall Quay, 1:00 PM), No Such Thing as a Synonym (The Brew Society, 2:00 PM), and International Day for Bids & Proposals informal networking (Mad Frans Bar, 3:00 PM).
HerFinance Circle: Investing in Yourself
📅 Wednesday 30 September, 8:30 AM · 📍 BOX Leeds
A morning session on coaching and financial planning for women in business.
Collaborate, Cultivate and Care
📅 Wednesday 30 September, 11:00 AM · 📍 Shoosmiths, Leeds
A lunchtime networking session hosted at Shoosmiths' Leeds offices — with, by all accounts, an awesome buffet.
Netwalking Leeds: Property & Construction Networking
📅 Wednesday 30 September, 12:30 PM · 📍 DB3 Architecture, Quarry Hill
Networking on the move for the property and construction sector, starting from DB3 Architecture at Quarry Hill.
A Force for Good: A Social Evening for Impact-Led Businesses
📅 Wednesday 30 September, 5:00 PM · 📍 Lost & Found, Leeds · Free
A free evening social for purpose-driven and impact-led businesses to close out the month.
Also on Wednesday 30 September — Festival Sessions & More
📅 Wednesday 30 September · 📍 Various Leeds venues · All free
A packed final day of the month: The Technology Trust Gap in Financial Services (Avenue HQ, 8:30 AM), The Death of the Funnel? Travel Shows Us What's Next (Hatch, 9:30 AM), NatWest Accelerator: She Scales — Fuelling Growth for Female Tech Founders (10:00 AM), #WECAN: AI Confident Leadership (The Rose Bowl, 10:00 AM), The Workplace of Today: A Marriage Between Tech and Human Capital (Platform, 10:00 AM), Culture vs. Code — Is Data Killing Creativity? (Hatch, 11:00 AM), Beyond the Interface: Applying Design Thinking to Product Strategy (The Brew Society, 12:00 PM), Creative Research Methods for Deeper Insights (Novotel, 12:00 PM), Nexus Connect: Failure is an Option (Nexus, 4:00 PM), and Mastek4Good — Leeds' digital charity software engineering community (Mastek, 5:30 PM).
Know of a Leeds business event happening in September that we've missed? Email news@leeds.today and we'll add it.
Major Conferences & Showcases
UKREiiF
📅 May · 📍 Royal Armouries & Leeds Dock · 12,000+ delegates
The UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum takes place over three days every May. Investors, developers, council leaders, and central government representatives gather for one of the biggest business events hosted in Leeds, generating significant deal flow across property, infrastructure, and professional services. Read our guide.
ClimbUK
📅 June · 📍 Royal Armouries, Leeds · 4000+ attendees
An investor showcase held at Leeds Dock, connecting founders with investors over informal meetings. The 2026 event attracted 250 investors and has a track record of facilitating seven-figure deals. Suited to founders seeking early-stage and growth capital. Read our guide.
The Entrepreneur Festival
📅 June · 📍 Royal Armouries, Leeds · 4,000+ attendees
The UK's national forum for founders, investors, operators, advisors, and policymakers building, scaling, funding, and shaping businesses. The three-day festival covers the full founder journey from start-up through to exit, with structured introductions, private investor spaces, and sessions led by people who have built, funded, and sold businesses.
Leeds Digital Festival
📅 September · 📍 Multiple Leeds venues · Two-week festival · Free and ticketed events
One of the UK's largest open tech festivals, running across multiple venues over two weeks each year. The programme includes talks, panels, workshops, and networking covering AI, digital marketing, cybersecurity, fintech, and more. Ideal for anyone working in or around the tech and digital sector. Read our guide.
