Business Networking in Waterlooville: Where to Go and How to Get a Free Guest Ticket

The short answer

If you run a business in or around Waterlooville and want a regular, in-person networking meeting, the one to know about is the weekly business referral group that meets every Wednesday at 4.30pm at Waterlooville Golf Club, Cherry Tree Avenue, Cowplain, PO8 8AP.

You cannot simply turn up. Meetings are ticketed and guests come by invitation. Waterlooville.co can sort that out for you: ask us for a free guest ticket using the form on this page and your details go straight to Alyson, who runs the group for BNI Hampshire. She will contact you to confirm which Wednesday you are coming.

The weekly networking group in Waterlooville

The group is a new afternoon business referral group for owners in Waterlooville and the surrounding area, including Cowplain, Purbrook, Horndean, Denmead and Clanfield. It is the Waterlooville chapter of BNI, run locally by BNI Hampshire, and it meets face to face rather than online.

When: every Wednesday at 4.30pm.

Where: Waterlooville Golf Club, Cherry Tree Avenue, Cowplain, PO8 8AP.

Who it is for: local business owners, from financial and professional services to trades and creative industries.

How you get in: by invitation, with a ticket. Guest tickets arranged through Waterlooville.co are free.

Cost to join: there is no membership fee until the group reaches 20 members.

An afternoon slot is unusual for this kind of group. A lot of structured networking happens over breakfast, which rules out anyone doing the school run or already on site by 7am. A 4.30pm start suits people who want to finish the working day first.

How the meetings work

This is structured networking, which is the main difference from a drop-in coffee morning. The point of the meeting is for members to pass each other real work.

Every member gets 60 seconds each week to say what their business does and what kind of customer they are looking for. Members also take turns on a speaker rotation, with a 10-minute slot to explain their business in more detail and who they would like to be referred to.

Members then pass each other qualified business referrals, and those referrals are checked and tracked, so everyone can see whether the group is producing work.

Only one business per trade or profession can hold a seat. If a plumber is already a member, a second plumber cannot join, so members are not competing with each other in the room. Because the Waterlooville group is still forming, most seats are still open.

How to get a free guest ticket

Step one is to fill in the form on this page with your name, your business, what you do, your mobile number and your email address. It takes about 30 seconds, and you can choose the Wednesday that suits you.

Step two happens without you. Your details go to Alyson at BNI Hampshire, and you get an email confirming we have passed them on.

Step three is Alyson getting in touch to confirm your seat for the Wednesday you picked.

Then you come along as a guest, meet the room and see how the referrals work. It is worth bringing a few business cards.

Guests can come to up to two meetings before deciding whether to apply. There is no commitment in asking for a ticket.

Networking for Cowplain, Horndean, Purbrook, Denmead and Clanfield

You do not need to be based in Waterlooville town centre. The meeting is held in Cowplain, and the group is open to business owners from across the area, including Cowplain, Horndean, Purbrook, Widley, Denmead, Clanfield and Lovedean. If you have searched for business networking in any of those places, this Wednesday group is the weekly meeting on your doorstep.

Networking for tradespeople

Trades are one of the three kinds of business the group is built around, alongside financial and professional services and creative industries. Because only one business per trade can hold a seat, a builder, an electrician, a plumber, a roofer and a decorator can all sit in the same room without competing, and each can pass on the jobs the others come across. The 4.30pm start also means you can come straight from site.

Is it breakfast, lunchtime or evening?

Afternoon. The Waterlooville group meets at 4.30pm on Wednesdays, not over breakfast. The council-backed Havant Business Partnership events are mostly held in the early evening.

Can anyone join?

Not automatically. After visiting, anyone who wants to become a member fills in an application form, which the group's leadership team reviews. Membership is not guaranteed, and seats go one per industry on a first come, first served basis.

That is worth knowing if your trade is a common one locally. While the group is forming, the seat for your trade is likely to be open. Once somebody in your line of work has taken it, it is gone.

Is weekly networking worth the time?

It depends on how your business gets its work. Weekly referral networking tends to suit businesses that rely on word of mouth and trust: trades, accountants, solicitors, mortgage and insurance advisers, estate agents, designers, printers, IT support and similar local services. These are businesses where one good introduction can be worth a lot, and where customers often ask someone they trust who to use.

It asks for a real commitment. A group that meets every week only works if people turn up every week, get to know each other's businesses and actively look out for work to pass on. If you want an occasional, no-pressure chat with other owners, a less frequent event will suit you better.

The simplest way to find out is to visit. One meeting as a guest will tell you whether the people in the room deal with the kind of customers you want.

Other business networking near Waterlooville

Waterlooville sits inside the borough of Havant, and the council runs its own business networking. The Havant Business Partnership is coordinated by Havant Borough Council and Havant & South Downs College for local businesses and organisations. Events are held throughout the year, mostly in the early evening, and are often hosted by a local organisation. It is informal: time to meet other local businesses over light refreshments. To hear about the next one, email the council's Economic Development team at Economic_Development@havant.gov.uk or sign up to the council's business newsletter. Details are on the Havant Borough Council website.

Informal meetups for local business owners are also listed on Eventbrite from time to time. Dates, venues and organisers change, so check the current listing before you travel.

The two main options do different jobs. The council's events are occasional and open to businesses across the borough, which is useful for meeting a wide range of local organisations. The Wednesday group is weekly, limited to one business per trade and built around passing referrals. There is nothing to stop you doing both.

Getting the most from your first meeting

Decide in advance how you will describe your business in one or two sentences, and be specific about the customer you want. "Homeowners in Waterlooville and Cowplain who need a new consumer unit" is easier to refer than "anyone who needs an electrician".

Listen for who the other people in the room already work for. The most useful contacts are usually businesses that serve the same customers as you at a different point: a letting agent and a cleaner, a builder and a kitchen fitter, an accountant and a bookkeeper.

Follow up within a day or two with the people you spoke to. Networking pays off through relationships built over several meetings, which is the reason this group meets every week.

About this guide

Waterlooville.co is the local business guide for Waterlooville and the surrounding villages. Our publisher is a member of the Wednesday group and is helping it grow, which is how we are able to arrange free guest tickets. The meeting details on this page were last checked on 8 October 2026.