Stroud District, Gloucestershire · Business & Innovation Network
Better conversations.Stronger businesses.A more connected Stroud.
SBIN (Stroud Business & Innovation Network) is where entrepreneurs, makers and independents across the Stroud District build trust, ask better questions and turn local introductions into momentum.Working across the entire Stroud District
Join usWhy SBIN
Not just another
networking group.
Most business networks are an excuse to hand out business cards over lukewarm coffee. SBIN was built on a different idea: that genuine growth happens when smart people are challenged, build trust and are surrounded by others who are equally serious about progress.
We are intentional, mixed, and rooted in Stroud. Because place matters. The creative, independent spirit of this town is baked into everything we do.
01
Think differently
Hear from people outside your usual circle and see your business from a sharper angle.
02
Connect deeply
Not LinkedIn connections. Real relationships built on honest conversations and shared ambition.
03
Grow together
Share leads, introductions, ideas and practical support with people who understand the local landscape.
04
Push further
Leave with clearer asks, stronger relationships and something useful to do next.
Membership
Everything
you get.
A membership that does considerably more than you'd expect from a business network. Here's what's inside.
The Events
Real rooms, real conversations. No scripts, no quotas, no ninety-second pitches. Every event has a theme - a question worth exploring, a speaker worth hearing. Hand-picked to align with where we are in the year, not just who was available.
The room where you meet the people worth knowing, repeatedly, until you actually know each other.
The Year
Every year at SB&I has a theme - a question the whole community explores together, from January through to December. Each event builds on the last. By the time you reach the end of the year, you've thought about your business from angles you'd never have found alone. And so has everyone around you.
This isn't a calendar. It's a journey.
The Journal
Before you go: what do you want from today? During: notes, questions, the thing someone said that you need to remember. After: who you met, what shifted, what you're going to do differently. Private. Yours. Waiting every time.
A year in, you'll have a real record of how your thinking - and your business - changed. Written in your own words, one session at a time. This is the notebook you always meant to keep.
Circles
Find the group thinking about the same things you are - food, tech, creative, trades, whatever's yours. Ongoing conversations, not one-off events. The place inside SB&I where you go deep instead of wide.
Keeps you visible and connected to the people most likely to need what you do.
Sparks
Every business owner has thoughts they can't say out loud - not on LinkedIn, not to a client, not even to a friend who'll be supportive but doesn't really get it. Sparks is where those go. Throw it in the room. See what comes back. No judgement, no performance. Just people who might actually help.
Where you collaborate on ideas, not just contacts.
The Board
Someone in the Stroud District needs a designer. A photographer. An accountant they can actually trust. A co-founder. A second opinion. The collab board is where that happens - openly, in real time, between people who already know each other a little.
The job you didn't know existed. The client who didn't know you existed. Until now.
The Mentors Network
Not a keynote. Not a masterclass. A real conversation with an experienced business owner who has volunteered their time because someone did the same for them once. Access to the Mentors Network is included. The only ask is that one day, when you're ready, you do the same.
When you need someone who's been where you are.
The Business Directory
A listing that actually gets seen - by members, by the public, by every local business looking for someone they can trust over someone they found on Google. Claimed, verified, yours to keep updated.
Findable. By the right people.
The longer you're in
Month one, you're new.
Month six, you know people.
Year two, people know you.
Your work. Your strengths. Who you'd be good for. That's when things start arriving you didn't go looking for - introductions, conversations, the referral from someone who's watched you work and knows exactly who you should talk to.
We're not going to promise you clients. But we know where they come from.
And it builds.
The rhythm of the year
We grow
with the seasons.
The year has a shape. Four phases, four mindsets. Not a random calendar of events, but a discipline for how your network compounds over time.
See the full yearAutumn · Sep–Nov
Plant
Know exactly what your business needs from other people. Name it out loud. Then stop hinting and start asking.
Winter · Dec–Feb
Reflect
Look at your network without flinching. What's actually working? What's missing? What have you been quietly leaving on the table?
Spring · Mar–May
Grow
Build the skills and relationships to make things happen through other people, without it feeling like networking.
Summer · Jun–Aug
Harvest
Point to something real. Something that exists because of the people in this room.
What members say
“...The talks are genuinely interesting, the speakers are engaging, and the overall vibe is brilliant. Definitely worth checking out!”
What's on
Upcoming events
Wed 9 Sept
17:45
Stroud Business & Innovation Network - September Gathering
Wed 7 Oct
17:45
Stroud Business & Innovation Network - October Gathering
Wed 4 Nov
18:45
Stroud Business & Innovation Network - November Gathering
Thu 10 Dec
18:45
Stroud Business & Innovation Network - December Gathering
Ready to grow?
SBIN is open to anyone building something in or around Stroud. Sign up, tell us your story, and start connecting with people who actually want to see each other win.
