Southampton’s social for solo workers

The Five-Nine Club is for Southampton’s self-employed, freelancers, and remote workers to chill with other humans, IRL.

Once a month, on an evening when our office-working, commuting or otherwise engaged friends are sending the ‘Pub?’ Slack message to #off-topic, Five-Nine members get together to do the cool things we often miss out on thanks to the way we work.

Come alone or bring a friend, get a gin or stay sober; it’s up to you. In any case, we’ll get the first round in.

2024 is our first year doing this thing and we’ll be hosting art workshops, going axe-throwing, creating cocktails and soaking up sunshine, at some point.

Psst... this is Southampton, England we’re talking about, not Southampton, NY. 🙂

Upcoming dates

Friday 28th February

Quiz Night and Birthday Party

18:00 - 21:00, Clockwise Southampton, SO15 2JU

The Five-Nine Club is turning one! 🥳

We are celebrating our first birthday with a not-at-all serious quiz night, and we have a few tricks and treats up our sleeves for the evening, too.

So, Southampton’s freelancers, work-from-home-ers and imposters are all invited to join us as we take over the Club Lounge at Clockwise Southampton for a quiz night, with some delectable prizes for the worthy.

Past events

Sunday 26th May

Axe throwing at Black Axe

17:00 - 18:30, Black Axe, The Marlands

If you haven’t been axe throwing before, this is your sign. And if this isn’t your first time at an axe throwing rodeo, you know how much fun we’re in for.

Let’s all practice our not-at-all-annoyed gracious loser faces in advance, because after being taught some techniques and a bit of practice with our axes, it’s competition time.

FULLY BOOKED!

Friday 26th April

Friday social at Bring & Mix

18:30 - 20:30, Bring & Mix, Bedford Place

Southampton's unique cocktail experience. You bring your own bottles and they mix cocktails; so dust off the weirdest liquor you’ve got lurking in the cupboard. What’s the worst that could happen?

Non-drinker? Bring an 0% tipple and you’ll be shown some new mocktails.

FULLY BOOKED!

Thursday 28th March

Indoor baseball batting at 1st Base

18:00 - 20:00, 1st Base, Southampton City Centre

Channel all of those moments when you’ve really wanted to swing a baseball bat around, without the potential for career damage.

Hotdogs (vegans, we got you too), snacks and your first drink provided.

FULLY BOOKED!

Thursday 29th February

Illustration workshop with Amy Harwood

18:00 - 20:00, Dock House, Ocean Village

Our first ever Five-Nine event is a lovely one to start us off; a super chilled illustration class.

Learn a few techniques from Amy before choosing from one of her spring themes: ducklings, bees, rabbits and bluebells. Absolutely no art experience required!

FULLY BOOKED!

Thursday 13th June

Games Night at Brewhouse and Kitchen

18:30 - 22:00, Brewhouse and Kitchen, Highfield

It's game faces on for our June social; we'll have our own area of Brewhouse & Kitchen (inside and outside, so let's keep everything crossed for some sunshine). We'll lay on the food and sort out the games; you bring self-control to not flip a table when you get served a stacked +4 in Uno. :)

FULLY BOOKED!

Thursday 20th June

Southampton freelancers’ brunch and co-working day

11:00 - 16:00, Network Eagle Labs, Southampton

Join other freelancers in the Southampton area on National Freelancers Day 2024 with a day of co-working at Network Eagle Labs, brought to you by the Five-Nine Club and Network Eagle Labs. 

Friday 19th July

Sundowner social: Southampton's summer party for solo workers

19:30 - 23:30, Bugle House, Southampton

The Five-Nine Club is taking over the Bugle House in Southampton’s old town for an evening of summer celebration.

Freelancers, business owners and remote workers are invited to join us to socialise in the city’s coolest venue.

We’ll be partying over two floors of the Bugle House, inside and out. With live music in the stunning Wonderland space and a throwback disco down underground, we suggest you come prepared to dance.

There’ll also be a photo booth, games corner, glitter bar and a chance to take a dip in the infamous bathtub ball pit.

Hey.

I’m Grace, he’s James and we created the Five-Nine Club after musing over exactly where Southampton’s solo workers were hanging out after work (the sofa, right?).

I’m a self-employed Southampton native, and James moved here for work in 2022, excited to see what a new city had to offer.

We both know the feeling of being slightly envious as we scroll through everyone else’s instagram stories of after-work hangouts, but there’s only so many times we can sigh and think how much easier it would be to kick back with cool people if we lived in London, Brighton or Bristol. So, Southampton - here we are! 

We’ve created Five-Nine to bring together the city’s freelancers, solopreneurs and self-employed (three ways of saying the same thing, I know) for our very own post-work drinks.

Ground rules

We just have three little requests:

  • No hustling

    This is very proudly not business networking.

    Much like you wouldn’t negotiate your pay-rise at the work Christmas do, we don’t do touting at Five-Nine. Save that for LinkedIn.

  • Pull up a chair

    Five-Nine is a community, not a clique; we love newcomers! If you sit with friends, make room for others to slide in with you.

  • Don’t be a dickhead

    Pleeeeease. This isn’t a debating club, or a dating event. We’re at Five-Nine to enjoy a light-hearted evening, so bring your good vibes only.

FAQs

  • Nope, that’s the intention! Most people will be coming alone, and you’ll always be greeted by a Five-Nine organiser who can introduce you to others if that’s what you’d like.

  • No, not necessarily. The shared experience of Five-Nine members is that their work set-up doesn’t lend itself to socialising, so that might be that you’re self-employed, a startup founder, working remotely/remote-first, or simply don’t have the office culture. We’re not going to make you prove your HMRC status on the door.

  • Yes, that’s fine. Five-Nine is all about community so please both get stuck into the chat!

  • Yup! We’d love to host all sorts of events and meets. Sign up to the Five-Nine mailing list or follow us on instagram and you’ll be the first to know when something new is organised.