Erica Sheward, 38, is a technical director of a food manufacturing business. She lives in West Sussex with husband Martin, 33, a doctor. ‘I was very career focused throughout my twenties but, by my early thirties, knew I wanted to settle down. One night, I was moaning to my brother that I had…
A few years back, we all fell in love with dating. It can probably be traced (like many things) to Sex and the City. What fun it looked: dressing up in gorgeous dresses, with shoes so expensive that no man could ever appreciate them, to flit between gallery openings and fashionable restaurants with a series…
“Older men have it easy. I’m coming back as a bloke” There are always slightly more women on our books. Why? God made it that way. Women have it better when they are younger, men when thy are older. A girl in her twenties or thirties can go for older men, but 40-year-old men can go…
Tomorrow is National Dating Day and with a record 11 million singletons searching for love in the UK, the etiquette of romance has never been more complicated. Follow these 12 golden rules of dating and you will be well on course to true love. Do’s WHERE TO MEET Ideally choose a quiet wine bar…
With more single people than ever living in the UK, just over 16 million, up from a little over 12 million in 2002, according to the Office of National Statistics, it’s no surprise that dating is a big-bucks business. Many of the wealthiest singletons sign up to bespoke introduction agencies that cost from £1000 to…
Karen Mooney founded the Sara Eden Introductions dating company in 1988 and, as managing director, has watched it grow for 16 years. Pairing off single professionals, Sara Eden has resulted in more than 1,500 marriages since its conception. Karen gives dating tips on BBC2’s Celebrity Would Like To Meet tonight at 8pm. How does it…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
For those in search of paradise. Karen Mooney sold just about everything she owned, and only had two months’ mortgage re-payment money in hand when she launched her introduction agency, Sara Eden. “I’d been in a secure job in personnel for 10 years, and when I handed in my notice, my family and friends…
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…
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…
Working too hard to find a mate? Then join a company with the latest employee perk – dating agency membership. The reception of the Sara Eden introduction agency is full of the triumphant faces of newlyweds smiling smugly from the walls. Many, according to founder Karen Mooney, are couples who have found true love thanks…
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…
If you are single just now and would rather not be, you are probably feeling somewhat despondent. With all the anxiety around work, the health of vulnerable friends and family, on top of your own, the prospect of being alone now heaps on more misery. But, your single status is not something you should…
It can feel fraught and even frightening. You’ve been hurt before and the memory of that pain may be influencing you now, making you feel desperate to get things ‘right’ this time. The trouble is that desperation may also make you more inclined to rush. When you rush you’ll be more demanding, less discerning and…