Arena Networking Navigator
Build the relationships that can help shape your career and your business.
An Arena Futures Programme in partnership with William Murray PR & Communications and industry networking expert, Graham Stonadge
Strong industry relationships matter.
They can open up new conversations, build confidence and visibility, broaden your understanding of the industry and create commercial opportunities. But knowing how to build those relationships effectively isn’t something people automatically learn as they progress through their careers.
Arena Networking Navigator (ANN) is a practical development programme designed to change that.
ANN gives people the skills, confidence and opportunities to build meaningful professional relationships and teaches them how to turn a first conversation into a contact they can continue to benefit from throughout their career.
There’s a skill to getting networking right
How do you walk into a room where you don't know anyone?
How do you make a positive first impression? Start a conversation naturally without immediately talking business? Introduce yourself and what you do? Join, and leave, a conversation confidently? Follow up without it feeling transactional?
And ultimately, how do you build relationships that create value for both you and the business you represent?
These are skills that can be learned and they're exactly what we develop through ANN.
More than a networking course
ANN combines expert coaching and practical development with something equally important: real opportunities to put those skills into practice.
Across the programme, participants explore everything from approaching a room and introducing themselves to conversation skills, follow-up, relationship building and making more effective use of their existing network.
Learning takes place through a combination of:
Expert-led development sessions
Small-group learning
Individual 1:1 support
Practical tools and techniques
Live Arena Futures and Arena events
Opportunities to meet and build relationships with people from across hospitality and foodservice
Participants don't just talk about networking in a training room. They go out and do it.
What does that mean for employers?
ANN isn't simply about making someone feel more comfortable at a networking event.
It's about developing people who can represent your business confidently and professionally within the industry.
People who can build relationships outside their immediate organisation, have better conversations with customers, suppliers and industry peers, develop their commercial awareness and bring a broader industry perspective back into the business.
Investing in those skills earlier means that, as someone's role and responsibilities grow, their network can grow with them.
Who is ANN for?
ANN is particularly valuable for people who are beginning to build a profile and network beyond their own organisation.
That could be a graduate beginning to represent your business externally, an executive attending more industry events, someone stepping into a more externally facing position or a team member taking on greater commercial responsibility.
It could also simply be a great person in your business who would benefit from greater industry exposure, confidence and connections.
ANN isn't about being “bad at networking”. Even naturally confident people can benefit from learning how to network more purposefully and turn the people they meet into meaningful, long-term professional relationships.
Learn it. Then put it into practice.
One of the things that makes ANN different is its connection to the wider Arena network.
Our cohorts attend live Arena Futures and Arena events, giving them the opportunity to take what they've learned and use it in rooms full of people from across hospitality and foodservice.
Three successful ANN cohorts have already engaged in the programme, bringing together people from a range of roles and businesses across hospitality and foodservice.
Participants have left with more than networking techniques… they’ve had the opportunity to practise them in real industry environments, build new relationships and develop a network they can continue to grow throughout their careers.
The next Arena Networking Navigator Programme
Our next programme begins in February 2027.
Programme dates
25 February – Development session (2 hours)
11 March – Development session (2 hours)
16 March – Arena Futures live event
1:1 development sessions
8 April – Development session (2 hours)
27 April – Arena Savoy Lecture
Who in your business could benefit?
If someone immediately springs to mind, we'd love to talk to you.
ENQUIRE ABOUT ANN AND PRICES FOR 2027 - karis@arena.org.uk
Speak to Karis about the next cohort and whether ANN would be the right development opportunity for you or someone in your team.