Stuffy corporate networking events will be a thing of the past if a new group continues its trajectory.

The Really Useful Networking (RUN) group attracted nearly 100 movers and shakers from the Teignbridge and South Devon area to its second event at Newton Abbot Rugby Club last Thursday (December 4).

RUN, which started life with an event in the Ivybridge in the summer, has grown rapidly over the past five months with events in Newton Abbot and Exeter as well as online networking. And the founders have big expansion plans to ‘go national’ next year.

Newton Abbot held its first RUN event at the end of October.

RUN believes it is sprinting ahead because it puts ‘people first’ with a focus on friendship, fun and genuine connection. Those attending are encouraged to ‘just be yourself’ with no requirements for performing, pitching or pretending.

‘We want people to feel that they can come as themselves. They don’t have to come as just their business,’ explained RUN co-founder Jo Mottershead.

The networking meet-ups take are set to take place every month and generally include opportunities for people to chat, games and segments from guest speakers.

At the December Newton Abbot RUN, guests took part in a Christmas quiz, competed in an interactive game with a hotly contested leaderboard, heard about Taste of the West from Westaways Sausages owner Charles Baughan, and shared sales tips in an interactive session with lead generation queen Gaby Beyer-King and RUN co-founder John Ross.

And to prove the future of networking is a marathon not a sprint, RUN has appointed two well-known local champions to lead the Newton Abbot events: Mike Saxton, who is operations director at Newton Abbot Rugby Club, and Aloma Watson, the founder of Exe Events, which organises high profile events and speakers.

The next RUN Newton Abbot will take place on Thursday February 5.