A deep dive into Hartlepool United’s business networking group: how it works, why it works, and what comes next? 

Over the past few years at Hartlepool United, times have been tough. Dropping back down to the fifth tier was just one of many catalysts for the deterioration of the atmosphere surrounding the club.  

With the attendance count steadily declining, Pools were drifting further away from the warm community feeling that had always been an important element of the football club and the town itself. 

In early November last year, Hartlepool United announced the launch of a new business program, Monkey Business, and many fans might still be oblivious to what the new networking group means for the club and the local community.  

Monkey Business was set up for several reasons, but most importantly it was set up to help the club become more rooted in the local community, and early results suggest it is doing exactly that. 

Sarah Rowntree, Retail and Ticket Office Manager at Hartlepool United, played a crucial role in the launch of the group, and she has seen the entirety of the group’s growth firsthand: “We’ve had 20 businesses sign up since November which is probably more than we initially forecast following the launch, but we are committed to growing.” 

“We understand that the football club is such a massive part of the community and it’s a great way to bring local likeminded businesses together.” 

Not only does Monkey Business integrate the club more into the local community, but it also offers brand exposure for any business that becomes a member, with match day advertising being just one of many benefits that businesses acquire when joining. 

“We understand that there are so many different businesses in the community and we want to be able to share that knowledge and encourage them to work together, providing a platform for exactly that. We’ve only had two meetings so far, but the links that have been made in those two meetings has been really promising. There’s links that you wouldn’t necessarily think would work, but do.” 

“One of our priorities is getting the football club back out into the community and bringing the community into the football club and the launch of Monkey Business has helped us on the way to do that.

”So quite a few of our businesses have no interest in football whatsoever, they completely hold their hands up and say, we’re not interested in football, but they understand the benefits of working together with the football club and I do think that it’s an opportunity that would be beneficial to a lot of the businesses in the town.” 

One of the newest businesses to have joined the group is Northern Rocks Vinyl, a record shop located in Hartlepool, which was founded by Phil Dunn in 2019. 

Phil, a huge Hartlepool fan himself, made the decision to have Northern Rocks Vinyl join Monkey Business in April of this year, and he couldn’t be happier to be a part of it: “I’ve really enjoyed it, I’ve only been to one meeting because we haven’t been involved a while, but it was really good, it was really positive, and it was nice to meet up with fellow pools fans who had their own businesses. 

“It was a very diverse bunch of people who probably wouldn’t normally communicate with each other, but we had this shared love for the football club, and it was a really positive meeting and I’m looking forward to some more of those.”   

Like many business owners in Hartlepool, he recognizes the importance of the club interacting and working with local businesses, and its significance towards the growth of both parties. 

“It’s only in the last six months, since the club has been taken over by new owners, they’ve started to approach local businesses again.  

“I sort of drifted away from looking at what was happening commercially at the club, but it does seem to be in the best position that it’s been in for a long time. 

“Things like the monkey business are building those bridges between the club and the business owners, and the public of course. 

“It’s a community thing, and that’s what the club needs to bring back, and things like this incentive will help to bring that back. I can only see Monkey Business going from strength to strength.” 

Ignite Candles is another company that joined Monkey Business very recently. Founded in 2024, Ignite Candles specialize in handcrafted, soy candles and are based in Hartlepool. 

They also joined the group in April, and the owner and founder Craig Fraser also spoke very proudly about his business’ inclusion in the networking group. 

“It’s finding weird and different ways to work with the club itself, and then also what benefits we could get potentially with the other companies. 

“A community has already been built without even meeting anybody yet, the fact that I’ve been involved in some people’s businesses, and they’ve asked for opinions, thoughts processes, and I’ve never even met the individual, it feels like a very open group already.” 

“Why wouldn’t you want to be a part of that if your business is established in Hartlepool.”