Long has ‘let’s do lunch’ signified the beginning of a business relationship. Now, LetsLunch makes the ‘I’ll have my people call your people’ response obsolete.

The social networking site is making its UK debut with the aim to encourage networking through lunchtime meetings. While it simplifies doing business over food, the newly minted third version of the site also allows for individuals and companies to become sponsored lunchers.

Sponsors pay to be featured on the homepage and accrue more lunch dates. On the UK site, sponsors range from employment recruiters to digital brand agencies. Based on the small-business entrepreneurial world of Silicon Valley startups, LetsLunch is designed to help small businesses grow and to allow companies to develop meaningful businesses relationships with clients through a digital facilitator.

Users are rated by reputation level based on feedback from lunchers and those with the best ratings get featured as VIPs on the homepage. Networking with a VIP allows for regular users to become VIPs, thus increasing their own networking potential.

With a reputation-based model, and the networking quality of LinkedIn, the site has expanded to four countries since its inception two years ago.