Across the UK, thousands of companies are quietly doing remarkable things – developing innovative products, building exceptional teams, transforming traditional businesses and finding new ways to grow.
Yet many of the people behind them rarely appear on conference stages or business podcasts. They’re simply getting on with building good businesses.
Connect Over A Cuppa grew from a belief that their experiences are worth sharing.
Learning from real businesses
The fundamentals are remarkably similar.
Over more than 25 years working with organisations across engineering, e-commerce and professional services, I’ve met some fascinating business leaders.
The businesses and challenges may be very different, but many of the fundamentals behind success are remarkably similar.
Good leadership
Clear communication
Engaged people
Understanding customers
Curiosity
A willingness to change
We’re naturally interested in results – sales, profit, productivity and growth, but I’ve always been equally interested in what creates those results in the first place.
Why does one team outperform another?
Why do talented people flourish in one organisation but not another?
Why do some businesses spot opportunities while others struggle to adapt?
Those are exactly the kinds of questions Connect Over A Cuppa was created to explore.
People who have actually done it
Connect Over A Cuppa is not about telling people how to run their business.
It’s about learning from people who have actually done it.
Our speakers share what worked, and what didn’t. They talk about decisions they’ve made, opportunities they’ve spotted, mistakes they’ve learned from, and what they might do differently next time.
We’ve welcomed people from major consumer brands alongside entrepreneurs, engineers, psychologists, finance specialists, marketers, adventurers, and leaders of successful smaller businesses.
From brain science to B Corps, engineering to entrepreneurship, the subject changes every month.
The common thread is interesting people, useful experience and a willingness to share it.
Not just networking
Connect Over A Cuppa is deliberately different from traditional networking.
There’s no expectation that everyone arrives with a sales pitch. People come primarily to learn, meet interesting people and exchange ideas. And because of that, the networking happens naturally.
Some of the best conversations happen before the speaker beings or over coffee afterwards. Ideas are exchanged, connections are made and collaborations sometimes begin.
Two hours to think differently
Running a business can be relentless.
50
speakers since we began
2h
once a month, in Harrogate
Meetings, emails, customers, people and today’s problems don’t always leave much time to think about tomorrow. Connect Over A Cuppa creates that space.
For two hours each month, you can step away from the day-to-day, hear a different perspective, challenge your thinking and take away ideas you can use in your own organisation.
Since we began, almost 50 speakers have explored leadership, innovation, marketing, finance, psychology, sustainability, culture, resilience, growth and much more. No two events are quite the same. That’s intentional.
Different people. Different perspectives. New ideas.
Our Host
Edward Ryder
Business consultant • Director of Biskit Ltd
Edward has spent more than 25 years working with businesses and organisations across the UK, from ambitious SMEs to major organisations, across sectors including engineering, manufacturing, aerospace, education, healthcare, e-commerce and professional services.
Edward’s work focuses on leadership, strategy and team development, helping organisations develop their people, create a clear sense of direction, and understand what really drives sustainable performance.
Throughout his career, Edward has been fascinated by the people behind successful organisations and the lessons that can be learned from their experiences. That curiosity helped create Connect Over A Cuppa.
Edward hosts each event, brining together speakers from very different backgrounds and encouraging them to share not just their successes, but the decisions, challenges, mistakes and lessons behind them.
The aim is simple: To create conversations that make people think, question, connect and see their own business from a different perspective.