Digital Futures @ University of Manchester runs this Sister-hosted evening on connecting CreaTech industry with university research and IP. Useful if you are a startup, agency or scale-up looking to plug into Manchester's research ecosystem — talent, grants and collaborations.
Northern Azure User Group (1,900+ members) returns for its May meetup at Morson Edge in the Bonded Warehouse. Two technical talks on Azure cloud platform from local practitioners, plus drinks and networking. A reliable monthly fixture for Microsoft cloud engineers and platform leads in the North West.
CMA briefing for online B2C businesses on the regulator's new direct enforcement powers — a year on from the regime change. Practical compliance session for ecommerce, SaaS subscription and marketplace operators in Manchester. Worth attending if your product touches UK consumers.
CTO Craft's quarterly Manchester mixer at The Old Monkey on Portland Street — three hours of low-key drinks and conversation among the city's CTOs, VPs of Engineering and senior tech leaders. Reliably one of the highest-quality networking rooms in Manchester for engineering leadership.
Tech Nation's flagship NextWave Final lands in Manchester — 20 shortlisted UK pre-seed and seed founders pitching live for a share of £2M, with six winners chosen on the day and a £335k SEIS opportunity from Haatch. The room is investors, ecosystem partners and the most-tipped early-stage founders nationally. Comfortably one of the most consequential founder-investor days in the UK calendar this month, and it's happening here.
Empower Together — the rebranded Women in Tech North community (3,500+ members, founded 2016) — runs its May evening at Kraken Technologies on Circle Square. One of the largest and longest-running women-in-tech rooms in the city, with sustained sponsor support from Kraken.
Venture Café's weekly Thursday Gathering at Sister, this week themed around fashion-tech and circular textiles. Talks and conversations on advanced materials, circular design and the founders building a less wasteful fashion stack. Free and open — Manchester's most consistent innovation networking night.
Software Crafters Manchester (2,300+ members) hosts a war-stories evening on managing scale and the $750 cloud bill that prompted a rethink. Practical engineering talk plus drinks and networking at Department in the Bonded Warehouse — a reliable monthly fixture for senior engineers.
NWRUG's monthly third-Thursday meetup. One short Ruby talk and a friendly post-talk pub trip — the long-running fixture for Ruby on Rails developers in the North West. Venue confirmed via nwrug.org closer to the date.