Matchmaking and matchmakers may seem an anachronism in the modern age of social media and internet dating. However, Mairead Molloy of Berkeley International thinks that while websites and dating apps provide a "cheap and cheerful" service, they encourage users to behave in a very superficial manner.
With many of us strapped for time and concerned "with meeting the right people", there's a still a great demand for something that's a "bit more personal".
Molloy got into matchmaking "by accident". Bored with running a hotel in the south of France, she decided to sell up and move to London to retrain as a criminal psychologist.
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To "keep things ticking over" while she completed her studies at Birkbeck, she realised that there was a gap in the market for "chichi matchmaking". So she founded Berkeley in 2002, "putting the word out" to her friends and acquaintances that she was taking on clients.
While she never doubted her matchmaking ability, she wanted to keep start-up costs low in case things didn't work out. She initially ran her agency from her flat and "intensively networked" to build up a database.
Despite this cautious start, she acquired enough clients within two months to justify an office. From then on she continued to build up her business "little by little".
The biggest challenge of running an introductions agency is "managing people's expectations" before they pay Berkeley's fees, which typically run to around £10,000, Molloy says. This is important because "if you can't help them, they will be moaning all the time".
As a result, she will only take people on if she can find "at least seven good matches" for each client. She also avoids those with "humongous egos" or "excessively detailed" wish lists. Overall, around 15% of those who apply are ultimately rejected.
Matchmaking isn't just about arranging dates: Berkeley also follows up each meeting in order to give feedback and advice. This helps ensure that nearly 90% of her younger clients are successfully paired off.
The figure is lower for her older clients, with Molloy wryly noting that "70-year-old men want to date 60-year-old women, but 60-year-old women won't go out with older men". But nearly half the clients in the 50 to 70 age bracket end up married or in long-term relationships.
Three years ago, Molloy decided to expand overseas, opening offices in Cannes (where she lives) and Paris.
This proved to be such a big success that she's since expanded further in Europe and America. While putting a Latin American with a Londoner "may not always work", she believes that people are increasingly willing to date someone in another country.
Indeed, London-New York relationships have proved to be a big driver of global turnover, which is projected to be just under £3m this year.
Overall, Berkeley's success is down to "making sure that the client is looked after like they're the only client we have", Molloy says.
Her advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is "don't put loads of money into a business or venture until you're very sure that it is going to be a success". Instead, test the waters by making a small investment and then scaling things up.
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