First Connections is a founder-run business network for the North East, started in February 2026 by four business owners. We run free networking events across Newcastle, Darlington, Durham and the Tees Valley, celebrate the people making a difference through the NE High Street Heroes awards, help businesses find funding, and take the region’s voice to London with Trade NE.
Meet the founders →First Connections began in February 2026, when Sam Binns and Andy Bartlett ran the first free coffee morning in Darlington. Jack Sheriff and Tom Charlton joined soon after from Sunderland and Newcastle, and what started as one event in one town quickly became a network across the region.
The four of us met the way our attendees meet now: networking at events around the North East. We kept reaching the same conclusion. This region is full of brilliant businesses, but the events built for them too often treat their success as a second or third priority. So we started something that felt different, built around one idea: North East business success comes first.
That idea now runs through four strands of work.
Four strands, one goal: the North East's business success first.
Making the region feel smaller
Free monthly networking across Newcastle and Darlington, rotating local venues, open to anyone in business. The simplest way to meet the people running the region's businesses.
See upcoming events →Giving the region a national voice
Trade missions to London and engagement with MPs, so the North East speaks on the national stage as one region rather than as scattered towns.
About Trade NE →Celebrating the people making a difference
Awards that recognise the people keeping high streets alive across the North East, because the ones making the biggest difference rarely shout about it themselves.
Backing business growth
Funding discovery, partner offers and a growing platform: the practical assets North East businesses need to grow.
Explore funding support →0 - 0
businesses through events in six months
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of attendees are owners and business leaders
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towns covered
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free events run since February 2026
Four founders, four North East businesses. We run companies here ourselves, so we know first-hand what the region's businesses need.
Co-founder, SurgoTech Solutions
Tom co-runs SurgoTech Solutions and hosts the Newcastle First coffee mornings with Jack. He builds the connections shared across the network, putting the right people in front of the right businesses so the region grows together.
LinkedInCo-founder, The Ironing Man
Sam owns The Ironing Man and, with Andy, came up with the idea that became First Connections. He hosts the Darlington First coffee mornings and brings more than ten years of business experience and connections across the region.
LinkedInCo-founder, Roam
Andy owns Roam and created First Connections with Sam, backed by more than ten years of running businesses. He hosts Darlington First, and has run trade missions and high street awards in Northern Ireland: experience that now shapes Trade NE and the NE High Street Heroes.
LinkedInCo-founder, SurgoTech Solutions
Jack co-runs SurgoTech Solutions and hosts Newcastle First with Tom. He brings a decade of software engineering to the technology behind First Connections, from this website to the platform that will carry the network's funding and offers.
LinkedInFree events stay free because of the sponsors behind them. Thank you.
First Connections is funded by sponsors who want the region’s businesses to grow. If that’s you, we’d love to talk.
Become a sponsor