Over the last 2 decades the way to meet potential new partners has altered quite significantly and a major contributory factor has been the reduction in numbers of pubs and bars in the UK during that time, which as been considerable.
Two decades ago in 2002 there was more than 53,000 pubs and bars, but that figure fell to 39,000 in 2019 before we were troubled by the Covid Pandemic, these figures are provided by www.statista.com and a further 444 have been closed during the various lockdowns we have endured according to The Independent. So dramatically different to the situation prior to the new millennium when meeting partners in clubs and bars was one of the most popular ways of meeting potential partners and forming a relationship.
Nightclubs have also taken a battering during the Pandemic with around ¼ of them falling victim to the lack of footfall in London and numbers had already reduced from around 4,000 in the year 2,000 to 1,733 nationally in 2015, prior to the effect of Covid being quantified, so a very definite decline.
To make up for the lack of opportunities organised dating has grown to fill the gap, with around 2 million using dating sites, dating agencies or singles clubs in the year 2000, which grew to around 16 million by 2012 as companies such as match.com, eHarmony.com, Elite Singles and more recently Tinder, Bumble and Hinge all grew to fill the gap in the market place. Sadly though we know that a highly public and easily accessible profile and photographs on one of these sites is not everyone’s cup of tea and numbers have declined since their peak around 2012, from around 16 million users to around 7 million today.
The most popular age group to using online dating or dating apps is those aged between 25 and 34 with 15.5% of internet users having an online profile, this declines to 14.1% for those aged 35-44 and then there is a dramatic fall off to just 10.2% for those aged 45+, which perhaps gives rise to the theory that as you get older you also get a little more picky and discerning and ‘that there has to be a tick in almost every box’ for people to become involved and enter into a relationship. Figures are again are provided by www.statista.com
So what are the alternatives? Well we know that many people have defected away from online dating and dating appts over the last decade as our own stats prove this and our own Avenues Dating site www.avenuesdating.co.uk has grown to by more than 10 fold since 2013, as more and more people have looked for a slower paced, safer and less intense way of meeting partners.
So what is it that makes some people choose the slower pace provided by Avenues for those aged over 50 or our sister site www.matchmakersdating.co.uk for those aged 25-49? We believe there are 10 key reasons why more discerning daters choose our brands.
Every new member that joins Avenues or Matchmakers is personally interviewed, either on a face to face basis, or on occasions by Zoom/telephone and is carefully checked out to ensure that 100% of the time, they are who they say they are and do reside at the address provided. We also insist on new joiners providing photographic evidence of their identity in the form of a photo driving licence or passport in every instance.
We also check every member for any involvement in crime, particularly money crime or fraud, which is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country. Our own in house authentication and verification system enables us to do this. Along with solvency checks also – to make sure people are joining for the right reasons. Which enable us to provide a guarantee that potential dates are genuine and are totally who they say they are on their profile, with no sudden or unexpected surprises.
Our service is also a highly confidential one, with no public profile or photographs on any sort of public internet site, just total confidentiality between yourself and our personal matchmaking team, a massive consideration for an increasing majority of people these days. Particularly those in high profile jobs or in public office, where they just cannot risk having competitors, work colleagues, subordinates, neighbours or even family and friends finding your personal profile on the internet.
Every match that is provided by our Matchmaking Team is carefully researched according to your criteria and preferences, although on occasions our greatest success comes from people being a little different to each other as we know that opposites do attract and that chemistry actually comes from diversity rather than commonality. We also provide ‘one at a time matching’ and not multiple concurrent matches, so that you have the time and space to carefully evaluate and check out your matches and not just ‘write them off’ before you have had chance to see if an attraction could develop – as we all know that sometimes developing feelings for someone can take time.
So you have the time to properly evaluate the carefully researched matches you are provided with by your Personal Matchmaker, with our higher level memberships we provide an ‘on hold’ or ‘freeze’ facility, which effectively holds your membership whilst you’re dating and stops the membership clock from ticking while you’re meeting someone and evaluating whether or not they have potential to be your long time partner. This can be up to a very generous 6 months and has the effect of giving you 50% more membership time for free. Hold is available on both www.avenuesdating.co.uk and our sister company www.matchmakersdating.co.uk
We offer 2 different types of interview and that is our standard interview questionnaire or the abridged questionnaire for our entry level – Silver Membership. We like you to be relaxed and at your best for your interview, so we offer choices of coming to you in your own home on our top packages or you visiting our Head Office, in Alcester, Warwickshire, or by Zoom or by telephone if you’re joining on a budget and driving isn’t your thing.
One of the most critical success factors around your membership is the photographs that you choose for your profile. It can make a massive difference to the success we are able to achieve for you. To help ensure that we present you to others at your absolute best we offer our clients a complimentary photoshoot in our studio at Head Office, where Alison Burford, who is part of our resident onboarding team, with a passion for romantic photography is on hand to help capture you on camera at your very best.
At the top level, which is our Diamond membership (or Select on Matchmakers), then a head hunting service is included for you. Head Hunting is where you are looking for someone very specific, the like of which we may not have in abundance on our database initially. Our Head Hunter Kerry Weston is then allocated to work with your Matchmaker in a variety of ways to plug the gap. As an example previously we had a New Zealand lady, who lived in London, who wanted to meet an ‘Antipodean Man’. Which Kerry was quickly able to source for her through other agencies we work with in the London area and around the UK.
If you’ve been in a long marriage or long term relationship and have recently ended it then dating someone may be very new and perhaps pretty alien and intimidating for you. Perhaps in your heart you know that you’d really like to meet someone but it feels foreboding and worrying. In these circumstances it might help to speak to one of our Dating Coaches to help you get into the right frame of mind to maximise on this one off opportunity – it’s a finite membership period of up to a year or 18 months including the hold facility. Are you absolutely ready to maximise on this opportunity or would talking to one of our highly positive Coaches help you to get more from it? To persuade you that being open minded could be such a positive for you. Don’t get too hung up on someone’s height or your travelling distance, why would you want to exclude someone who was just a further 15 minutes away? So be open minded and then you can get the absolute maximum from being a member of Avenues or of Matchmakers if you are in the younger age category. Our coaches include Trelawney Kerrigan, who has worked as a Matchmaker herself and Karen Perkins who is one of the best known Dating Coaches in the North.
Enjoy great value for money – working with your own Personal Matchmaker, who during the course of your membership will become your friend, mentor, adviser and confidante is a tremendous positive, especially if you’re new to dating or you’ve had bad experiences online, they can literally worth their weight in gold. But it is more expensive than joining an online site. Have you ever wondered why? It’s because online dating or using a dating app is very much like ‘DIY Dating’ as if you think about it YOU do all of the work. The company you have chosen to work with provide you with a clever piece of software – that has probably been used many millions of times but you actually operate it and do all of the work.
But working with a Personal Matchmaker - that’s what we do – almost all of the hard work to help you get better results and to find that perfect partner. And all at a cost that is not actually a great deal more than joining an online site. Which service would you prefer?
Both www.avenuesdating.co.uk and if you’re younger www.matchmakersdating.co.uk are both part of the larger Dating Options Group of Personal Matchmaking companies, all of whom are members of the Dating Agency Association and must therefore adhere to the DAA’s strict code of practice. If you’re unsure check them out at www.datingagencyassociation.org.uk and you would be reassured that members deploy the highest of standards and that our Membership Advisory team will answer your questions openly and honestly and without pressurising you in any way.
So why not give it a try? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain in terms of the possibility of a lovely new partner coming into your life, who may change your life forever. Our phone number is 0800 644 4130 and we will quickly get your talking to one of team – your friend in the dating business. We’d love to hear from you.
Once we have discussed and understand your specific requirements, we will be able to recommend a suitable, tailor-made membership package with bespoke fees for you.
If you are seeking an elite matchmaking consultancy service where the exeptional is distinguished from merely the very good, please get in touch for a confidential consultation.
