First Connections

Get in touch

One inbox reaches all four founders, and we answer it ourselves. Whether it's your first coffee morning, a venue offer, sponsorship or funding, start here.

Anything about the events

Coming for the first time, bringing someone with you, or hosting us at your venue: this reaches all four of us.

Email us about events

Sponsorship and partnerships

Free events stay free because of the businesses behind them. If you want the region's businesses to grow, we'd love to talk.

Talk to us about sponsoring

Funding support

Help finding grant funding for North East businesses. Start with the form and we'll give you a choice of specialists from our network.

Register your interest

Where to find us

We don’t have an office to visit: we’re four business owners running this around our own companies. The reliable way to meet us in person is at a coffee morning, which is free and open to anyone in business.

  • Newcastle First runs on the third tuesday of each month, at a different independent venue each time.
  • Darlington First runs on the second thursday of each month, at a different independent venue each time.
  • Sunderland First runs on the fourth thursday of each month, at a different independent venue each time.
  • Durham First runs on the first thursday of each month, at a different independent venue each time.

They are all free, none of them asks you to join anything, and nobody has to stand up and pitch. Places are booked through Eventbrite so the venue knows how many to expect, and that month’s address is on the event listing.

Newcastle FirstDarlington FirstSunderland FirstDurham First

What happens after you write

Every message lands in the same inbox and one of the four of us answers it: there is no agency, no assistant and no automated triage in between. Tell us which town you are asking about and we will point you at the next date. Venue offers and sponsorship enquiries go to whichever of us is closest to that strand, so the reply comes from the person who can actually say yes. Funding enquiries are the exception: those are shared with grant funding specialists from our network suited to the enquiry, so you have more than one option to choose from, and we will tell you who we have put yours in front of.

Or message a founder directly

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