Networking for founders, creators and freelancers

Rebel Meetups returns to Maughans SOYO on Tuesday 12 May, running 6–9pm. The evening centres on two live interviews with people who have actually built things, plus open networking for founders, freelancers, creators and anyone else working on something of their own in Leeds.

This month's interviewees are George Fairhall and Jonny Swift. Fairhall is the sole female founder behind wac, a platform for hourly-paid workers that has tracked more than 16 million shifts and raised over £1.5M. The conversation will cover building from scratch, raising investment and creating a business with a social mission around fairer pay for lower-paid workers. Swift has managed over £2M in Google Ads spend and launched his own agency focused on paid search and SEO. His interview will cover when marketing spend actually works, what founders get wrong about demand generation, and lessons from going independent.

Between and around the interviews, the format is relaxed: drinks, conversation, and the kind of room where people are genuinely building things rather than collecting business cards. The event is aimed at startup founders, freelancers, marketers, consultants, agency owners and growth-minded professionals.

Rebel Meetups is run by Rebellious Co, a Leeds-based community organiser focused on connecting the city's next wave of founders and professionals. The events are hosted by Damien M. and Shivani K. and are designed to sit somewhere between a panel night and a social — structured enough to be useful, informal enough to actually enjoy. Maughans SOYO, on Soyo Square in the city centre, is the venue for this edition.

Why attend

Two practitioners worth listening to: a founder who raised £1.5M and built a platform used globally, and an agency owner with £2M of paid media experience. Both interviews are framed around honest accounts of growth, mistakes and the realities of building — not polished keynotes.

The room is specifically for people working on something: founders, freelancers, marketers and consultants. If you want to meet others at a similar stage in Leeds, this is a more direct route than most networking events. Three hours, a bar, and people who have something to say.

Agenda

• 18:00 — Doors open, networking and drinks
• Live interview: George Fairhall, founder of wac (£1.5M raised, 16M+ shifts tracked)
• Live interview: Jonny Swift, agency founder and Google Ads specialist
• 21:00 — Close

Speakers

• George Fairhall — Sole female founder of wac, a platform for hourly-paid workers; raised over £1.5M, 16 million+ shifts tracked globally
• Jonny Swift — Founder of a paid ads and SEO agency; has managed over £2M in Google Ads spend across lead generation and sales growth campaigns