Press Release

Are you unattached with little time or opportunity to develop your social life as you would wish? Would you like to dine at all the best places and go to prestigious social events but don't want to go on your own? Then you need someone who shares your tastes and interests to go with you. But if you don't fancy the idea of joining a dating agency where you might find yourself on a one-to one basis with an unsuitable blind date, where are you going to meet that partner?

Dinner Dates, one of the longest established and most respected dining and social events clubs for unattached single people in the UK is providing the answer for over10, 000 men and women nationwide. Dinner Dates provides a unique, fun, reliable and safe way to widen your circle of friends. The personal service offers you the opportunity to meet numerous other unattached people, of similar ages and interests, in a relaxed and convivial atmosphere at black-tie balls, dinner parties and buffets in many of Britain's finest restaurants and most exclusive venues. You can also enjoy meeting others through a wide range of sports activities which include clay pigeon shoots, skiing, horse riding, golf, sailing and go-karting, special events such as Henley Royal Regatta, Royal Ascot and holidays abroad.

Dinner Dates, now a household name, was established in London in early 1989 by TV and radio Agony Aunt Hillie Marshall. Recently divorced and an enthusiastic dinner party-giver herself, she wanted to help other unattached people enjoy a full social life. She says: 'Many single people aren't prepared to go to wine bars or clubs to take a chance of meeting someone interesting and often the idea of a dating agency doesn't appeal. A dinner party seemed to me to be the ideal solution. After all, it is one of the most natural and effective ways of introducing people to each other without any pressure in pleasant surroundings. With so many people at our parties there is safety in numbers, and no-one's details are ever released without their permissionÕ.

There is a one-off registration fee of £135 + VAT and the average cost of a Dinner Dates evening in London (less in other regions) is £69, which includes pre-dinner drinks and a three course meal with wine and coffee. With exclusive venues such as Mosimann's, The Lanesborough, The Langham Hilton, The Kensington Roof Gardens and The Dorchester Club, this is a bargain.The evening begins with a drinks reception where guests are introduced to each other. They are then seated at (usually) tables of 8, with place cards to indicate where they are to sit. After the main course the men swap places to pre-assigned seats on another table enabling everyone to sit next to 4 people of the opposite sex and to converse with as many people as possible over dinner.

The following day Hillie and her team phone each guest to ascertain how he or she enjoyed the evening and to ask if there is anyone they met that they would like to contact. If there is, and only if both parties are agreeable, telephone numbers are exchanged. There are now Dinner Dates franchises in The East Midlands, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, with more on the way, enabling members to meet other unattached people in areas they might not usually frequent. Although Dinner Dates is not a dating agency there have been hundreds of successful liaisons, perhaps because, as Hillie says: 'Dating is just a numbers game - the more people you meet, the more chance you have of meeting that special person for you'.