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How to get the most from an event, what is on for the season, and the towns behind it. Every event we mention links to its checked listing.
The editionEvents, 12 November 2026
The November edition: ideas, expos and awards
The second half of November is the fullest stretch of the business year so far: a festival of ideas, two expos a week apart, breakfasts with something to talk about, three awards evenings and a walk or two to clear your head.
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- SeasonalEvents, 21 October 2026Christmas networking 2026: festive dates across HampshireDecember's business calendar is short and social: drinks, lunches and coffee mornings with a festive turn. Here are the dates listed so far, week by week, with practical notes for anyone going alone or organising a party for their own team.
- FeatureEvents, 20 October 2026Hampshire Business Show: getting the most from an expoThe Hampshire Business Show is the county's yearly business-to-business expo. Here is what it is, what the research says about walking an exhibition floor, and how to make one day count.
- FeatureCommunity, 15 October 2026Introducing hampshire.events: one checked listHampshire's business events used to be spread across chamber diaries, group pages and booking sites. hampshire.events puts them on one list, checks it every week, and shows you how to get to the door.
- FeatureSustainability, 8 October 2026Sustainability on the business agenda: figures and meet-upsThe UK has a legal net zero target for 2050, but an ONS survey found two-thirds of businesses had taken none of the climate actions it asked about. Hampshire has a small, steady run of events for the businesses that want to start. Here is the context and where to go.
- FeatureEvents, 24 September 2026Awards season: Hampshire's business awards this autumnFrom Gosport to the New Forest, late autumn is when Hampshire's business awards are handed out. Here is who runs each one, who can enter, and what an awards night is good for.
- FeatureTips, 3 September 2026Hampshire's breakfast groups: how they work and whyMore than half the business dates we list in Hampshire are breakfasts. Here is why the format dominates, what to expect at one, and what research on small firms and weak ties says about turning up every week.
- FeatureEvents, 13 August 2026Hampshire's big business days this autumnAutumn is when Hampshire's larger business days cluster: expos, a festival of innovation, a business week and a run of awards nights. Here are the ones still to come, with what to know before you go.
- FeatureCommunity, 23 July 2026Netwalking: why business conversations are moving outdoorsNetwalking swaps the coffee table for a footpath. Here is how a walk usually runs, what the research on walking and thinking says, and where to find one in Hampshire.
- FeatureTips, 9 July 2026Summer networking in Hampshire: keeping in touchSummer is when many business diaries go quiet. You don't need to stop altogether: a regular group, a walk or an online meeting will keep your contacts warm, and the research on how connections form suggests a little, often, is what counts.
- FeatureWinchester, 18 June 2026Breakfast networking in Winchester: what's really onWinchester district has a large, professional business base, but most of the county's breakfast groups meet elsewhere. Here is an honest picture of what is on, and where to find an early start nearby.
- FeatureSouthampton, 12 June 2026Southampton's maritime economy and who it meetsAssociated British Ports says the Port of Southampton supports 45,600 jobs, and a 2026 study puts direct maritime employment across Hampshire and the Solent at 46,100. Here is what the sector is made of, and where its suppliers and neighbours can meet it.
- FeatureBNI, 5 June 2026BNI in Hampshire: how the weekly chapters workBNI is the most structured kind of networking you will find in Hampshire: one chapter, one person per trade, the same room every week. Here is how it works, what its own figures say, and what to know before you visit.
- FeatureEastleigh, 28 May 2026Starting up in Eastleigh: what the figures sayEastleigh sees around five hundred new businesses a year, has two busy stations and an employment rate above the regional figure. Here is what the official figures say about starting up there, and where to find other founders.
- FeaturePortsmouth, 21 May 2026Portsmouth's tech sector: the figures and where to meetAbout 4,500 people work in information and communication in Portsmouth, a similar share to Great Britain as a whole. The city's own strategy is frank about the challenge: keeping its graduates.
- FeatureBasingstoke, 14 May 2026Basingstoke: the quiet powerhouse, in figuresBasingstoke is often called a commuter town. The official figures describe a borough of 7,020 businesses, 85,000 employee jobs and median pay above the regional figure. Here is what they say, and where to meet the people behind them.
- FeatureWomen in business, 7 May 2026Women in business: the groups meeting across HampshireAround one in five small and medium employers in the UK is women-led, and women are starting businesses at far higher rates than twenty years ago. Hampshire has a handful of groups set up for them. Here are the figures, the groups and how to choose.
- FeatureIndustry, 30 April 2026Co-working spaces and the people who meet in themMost Hampshire businesses employ fewer than ten people, and more than a quarter of workers now split their week between home and elsewhere. Shared workspaces are where many of them find company, and where a growing share of local events happen.
- FeatureHospitality, 16 April 2026Hampshire hospitality in 2026: what the figures showHampshire has more places to eat than it did in 2020 and fewer pubs and bars. Here is what the official counts say, and why business events matter to the rooms that host them.
- FeatureIndustry, 9 April 2026Petersfield: business in a South Downs market townNine in ten East Hampshire businesses employ fewer than ten people. Here is what the district's figures and its own strategy say about Petersfield, and where local businesses meet.
- FeatureIndustry, 2 April 2026Fareham and Gosport: business by the harbour, in figuresFareham and Gosport sit side by side on Portsmouth Harbour, but their economies are very different sizes. Here is what the official figures and the councils' own plans say, and where to meet the people behind the numbers.
- FeatureIndustry, 26 March 2026Aldershot and Rushmoor: the business picture in figuresAldershot and Farnborough share a borough, a military past and an unusually technical economy. Here is what the official figures say about Rushmoor's businesses, and where its business people meet.
- FeatureTips, 19 March 2026Why networking matters for small businessesMost businesses have no employees, and most small firms take advice from only a handful of places. Fifty years of research on weak ties suggests why meeting people outside your usual circle pays, and the evidence is clearer than the usual networking clichés.
- FeatureSustainability, 12 March 2026Hampshire's green economy: the figures and the networksThe UK's low-carbon economy turned over £77 billion in 2024, and most small firms have taken at least one step towards net zero. Here is what that looks like in Hampshire, and where people working on it meet.
- FeatureAndover, 5 March 2026Andover and Test Valley: makers, movers and a new theatreAndover makes and moves things for a living more than most of the South East. Here is what the official figures and the council's own strategy say, and where Andover's business people meet.
- FeatureTech, 26 February 2026The Solent's digital businesses: what the numbers sayOfficial counts show Southampton and Portsmouth have fewer digital jobs, as a share, than England as a whole, and that north Hampshire is where the county's tech employment sits. The Solent's digital scene is real, but smaller and more spread out than the word cluster suggests.
- FeatureTips, 19 February 2026Networking etiquette: a friendly guideGood networking is mostly good manners. Here are the courtesies that help, and what research on conversations and networks says about why they work.
- FeatureStartups, 12 February 2026From freelancer to founder: what the numbers sayThree in four UK businesses employ nobody but the owner. Here is what the official figures say about the step from working alone to running a firm, and where local events help.
- FeatureManufacturing, 5 February 2026Hampshire's manufacturers: what the figures showAround 56,000 people work in manufacturing across Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton. The official figures show a sector that is steady in share, smaller than it was in 2019, and strongest in aerospace, defence and marine work.
- FeatureCommunity, 29 January 2026Charity and business: what the giving figures sayFewer people are giving to charity than ten years ago, and three in four businesses give nothing in time, cash or goods. Here is what the latest figures say, how company giving works, and where Hampshire businesses can start.
- FeatureWinchester, 22 January 2026Winchester and Southampton: two cities, two business mixesSouthampton has nearly twice Winchester's population, but Winchester has more registered businesses. The official figures show two very different economies, and the listings show very different calendars. Here is how they compare, and how to use both.
- FeatureHospitality, 15 January 2026The rooms behind Hampshire's business eventsOur listings name close to a hundred different venues with an event coming up, from a sailing club to a bank branch. Here is what kind of rooms they are, what the events industry is worth nationally, and what to check before you go.
- FeatureCommunity, 8 January 2026The year ahead for Hampshire business networkingWe first wrote this in January 2026 as a forecast with no figures in it. We have rewritten it in November with what actually happened: new regional government, more businesses on the register, and more people starting up, and what that means for the year ahead.
Looking for something that stays true from week to week? The guides explain how business events work.
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Every event in the county for the next seven days, posted first thing on Monday on LinkedIn and Facebook.