The ‘past their sell-by’ daters

There are more over-thirties looking for love than ever before. But why so many – and where do they start their search? Sally Brampton meets the adults who, like amorous adolescents, find themselves anxiously waiting for that email or phone call… A friend, recently divorced, is in a state of high excitement. She has a…

Beautiful Friendships Start Here

THEY eyed each other nervously over their glasses of champagne — successful TV scriptwriters, lawyers, surveyors and accountants.   Most of the faces in this small, select and glamorous gathering had three things in common: they were very good looking, very successful and, surprisingly, single. These were just some of the attractive clients who had…

Money can buy you love

Introduction agencies are some of the fastest-growing businesses of the last decade. And its all because of you. An increasing number of directors now pay third parties to help them find the perfect mate. Wendy Smith explains why. FABULOUS SALRAY, FABULOUS HOME, fabulous prospects – and still free and single. That appears to be the…

Bring on the Brides

KAREN MOONEY has cause to smile as she admires dresses that could be adorning radiant brides before the year is out. Business is booming for Sara Eden Introductions, the dating agency she launched in her kitchen in 1988. ‘We are seeing huge Milestones such as birthdays ending in a zero or the dawn of a…

All Work and no Romance

  If you find you are working so hard that there is too little time for romance in your life, Karen Mooney may have the answer. She is principal of Sara Eden Introductions, a dating agency for the professional and managerial classes. Since it was founded in 1988, the Windsor-based agency has achieved remarkable success…

Breakover MOTs

Has the end of a relationship left you on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Let Cosmo’s RAC* (Relationship Advice Counsel) put you on the road to recovery!   “I treated a good man badly – and I miss him”   Claire White, a PA, was with John, a 29-year-old banker for three years before…

Lonely heart Britain floods dating firms

One in five single men and women, an estimated 2 million people, are turning to dating agencies to start relationships. Researchers who produced the figure say it will double over the next five years, amid evidence that modern lifestyle demands are killing off traditional courtship. Richard Scase, professor or organisational behaviour at Kent university who…

For Those in Search of Paradise

Karen Mooney sold just about everything she owned, and only had two months’ mortgage repayment money in hand when she launched her introduction agency, Sara Eden. Initial publicity stressed Sara Eden’s “Beautiful People” image. Anyone eyeing them up at a party would assume they were already fixed up. “We certainly do have clients that are…

Mens Fitness

The strength of a dating agency is that you have a better idea of people’s long-term intentions. By going through an agency, you can cram a whole lifetime of dating into three months because you know exactly what you want. Sara Eden specialises in blue-chip professionals in banking, law, medicine and the media and currently…

The best introduction and marriage bureaux surveyed

Alice Robinson This agency has a reputation for bringing the beautiful people together. Director Karen Mooney, who is vice-chairman of the Association of British Introduction Agencies (ABIA), chose the name because it means ‘royal princess in the garden of paradise’. It was an apt choice. Mooney, a blonde fairy godmother with a degree in personnel…

The Love Business

Karen Mooney runs Sara Eden Introductions, a dating agency in London and Windsor that she set up in 1988. Business, she says, is booming. ‘Love conquers all things,’ she says, ‘ even in the credit crunch. In fact we’ve seen a 19% growth in sales over the last six months of 2008 and we’ve had…