Press cuttings

Simon Prockter, from London, became a speed-dating convert after just one evening and decided to set up Speed Dater with Ben Tisdall, organising events for struggling singletons. "I was single myself and had even tried Internet dating, but when neither of you gel, you still have to see it through to the end of the night.
"Speed dating is fast, non-pressurised and avoids the awkwardness of blind dates. Plus, it's much easier and less intimidating than trying to meet people in a bar," Simon maintains.

The idea is to meet as many people in an hour as possible. "We arrange for a minimum of 15 men and 15 women to meet. Each person is given a scorecard to keep track of their preferences. Everyone is assigned an initial partner and the dating starts, then after three minutes a bell rings and all the men move clockwise."

After the whirlwind dates, scorecards are handed back. Where there's a match, Speed Dater will pass on email addresses or phone numbers within 48 hours.

"We advice against swapping addresses until you know each other better and we'll never pass on an address."

Speed-daters pay £15 to attend an event, which is held well away from prying eyes. "We close off an area of a bar or use a function room - and it's not too serious," says Simon. "We don't want a heavy matchmaking drill. This way, people have a much better chance of meeting someone, and if they don't they'll still have had a great time."

Sizing up a future Mr/Miss Right in three minutes sounds tough going, but co-director Ben has a few tips. " We advise people not to get bogged down with 'What do you do?' and 'where are you from?'. It would be over before they know it! Instead we suggest thinking of something that will make the other person remember you."

Speed Dater held their launch event in London this month (October) "The first night went brilliantly." Says Ben "It's nerve-racking when you first walk in, but we had a really good compere to warm everyone up and put them all at ease. All but three people had one or more matches."

Nicole Nickerson (40) went along with friend Monica Marshall. "I was a bit apprehensive but it was a novel way to meet people. After a glass of wine everyone soon got talking," she says.

Monica was also impressed. "I got four or five matches. I've been in contact with one of them by email and I've had a drink with another. I used a dating agency when I first came to London but my first date was a real turn-off. Three minutes is long enough to establish whether or not you will get on."

Now Simon and Ben ho

Sunday, October 27, 2002