|
|
|
Name: Charlie Mills Age: 26 Job: Senior surveyor for ATIS REAL Weatherall Longest relationship: Two years What I look for in a partner: Single, hot, must have a brain/career. I would say I go for blondes but always go out with brunettes |
|
|
|
Name: Ream Saadah Age: 27 Job: I sell mortgages for Scandia Financial Services Longest relationship: Two years What I look for in a partner: Um, a sense of humour is vital! And nice eyes! I’m really not that fussed! |
|
|
|
Name: Hugo Henkes Age: 26 Job: Development surveyor at ATIS REAL Weatherall Longest relationship: 4.5 years What I look for in a partner: Fun, blonde, tall, very nice (obviously), strong character (career girl), not demanding, sporty. Not sure if they actually exist |
|
|
|
Name: Sarah Wright Age: 29 (soon to be the big 3-0 in October) although the boys I told how old I was didn’t believe me and thought I was 24 or 25 (hooray!) Job: I work for the Land Registry dealing with internal communications Longest relationship: Six years What I look for in a partner: Well, I tend to go for the cliché: tall, dark and handsome, although he has to make me laugh, has to make me feel special and treat me like an equal. I like to get my own way but really respect someone who will challenge me every now and then! |
It’s another sultry July evening in London’s Chinatown as drinkers spill onto the pavements enjoying the sunshine, but EG‘s four property speed daters are looking decidedly chilly.
Hugo Henkes and Charlie Mills, both 26 and surveyors for ATIS REAL Weatherall, are sipping double gin and tonics and pretending that they have nothing to do with the rest of our group. At the same time, Sarah Wright, 29, of the Land Registry, and Ream Saadah, 27, of Scandia Financial Services, are becoming giggly and frenetic.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my whole life,” admits Charlie, his hands shaking as he takes another gulp and blames pretty much anyone he can think of for his being there – including his boss, EG and the coterie of grinning friends who have come along to offer their “support”.
Despite their protestations, we managed to persuade all four EG speed daters to finish their drinks and proceed to the trendy Blue Bar at Sound in Leicester Square, where the Speeddater.co.uk event was being staged and where they were registered to take part.
The large basement bar had its blue sofas moved into intimate pairs for the occasion with a large plastic number card placed at each table. After each of the 40 speed daters is registered, 1-20 for the men and the same for the women, they sit at the appropriate table. Then, when the event organisers have said a few encouraging introductory remarks, the dates start. Each lasts for just three minutes, before the men move round to the next table.
A few drinks and dates later, the EG speed daters seem to have forgotten their worries, despite the fact that not all 20 of the women have turned up, so male speed daters have to take turns out to hover nervously at the bar in what the organisers humorously term the “gay bay”.
“It’s great that you can sit down and meet a bunch of random people, whether or not you see them again,” laughs Charlie. “I wasn’t sure before but I’m actually really enjoying it.”
Hugo is more critical. “The problem is that I’m next in line after Charlie so by the time girls get to me, they say ‘So, are you a surveyor too?’ and that hardly makes for fun conversation. It doesn’t help that we’ve got a photographer following us.
“My second date was a New Zealand girl who, when she found out which magazine this was for, suddenly got very panicked because her housemate works for Colliers and she hadn’t told him she was going speed dating!”
The evening draws on with a very tall and persuasive speed-dating female lawyer accosting one of Charlie’s friends who had come along to poke fun at him. Our speed daters are getting on so well that they even stay around for drinks after the dating ends, entertained by Ben Thompson, the marketing manager of ATIS REAL Weatherall, singing Dolly Parton’s “Nine To Five” over the loud speaker.
Charlie and Sarah in particular seem to be very taken with each other and talk about meeting up for drinks after the event.
So how did things work out? Two weeks later, Charlie, who got 11 matches (see box below), is flying. He’s preparing to go on a date with another of his new Speeddater acquaintances and is still hoping to meet up with Sarah.
“I’m glad I was bullied into it, so I can tick the box and say I’ve done it,” he says. “It’s good to chat to 17 random women, which you don’t always get the opportunity to do and it’s a nice way to widen your circle of friends. Twenty years ago people would go to parties and do the same thing, but now we tend to go clubbing instead.”
“I don’t think I’d go again, though,” he adds. “To do it too many times would look a bit desperate. One of the guys there had done it five times. I think you’ve got to approach these things in a light-hearted way rather than saying that this is the way to meet your future girlfriend or wife.”
Not keen for a repeat
Hugo, who received a respectable seven matches, is also not too keen to repeat the experience. “I enjoyed it and we had a good laugh but I’m not running to do it again,” he says. “I think it’s fun if you can get five or six people going as a group but that’s rather a lot of hassle.”
Despite arranging to keep in touch with Sarah and Ream as friends, Hugo signally failed to find love through speed dating. “You’re seeing 17 people in an hour and there were two that were fairly nice but I can’t remember their names and I lost my card,” he adds. “I don’t want to arrange to meet them and then get any of the others by mistake, as some of them were quite strange.”
Sarah was more positive after getting a whopping 13 matches. “I was expecting it to be full of sad and desperate losers but actually there was quite a good calibre of men and only two freaks. I’ve got two dates out of it and we’ll be meeting up with Charlie and Hugo after the article comes out, so you never know.”
Ben Tisdall, co-founder of Speeddater, says that more and more surveyors in particular are turning to speed dating as a way of meeting future partners. He says: “I think speed dating is suited to busy professionals who don’t have the time or opportunity to meet people. If you work in a male-dominated profession, which property is, and don’t have as much chance to meet women through work, this is a chance to meet other like-minded people.
“Surveyors are used to sizing up buildings quickly and accurately, so they are well-placed to use these skills at a speed-dating event,” he adds, apparently without irony.
All the evidence shows that male-dominated professions put people at a disadvantage when they look for a partner.
Workplace romance rules, says research
Survey after survey, including one carried out recently by recruitment consultant Office Angels, state that more than half of all workers in the UK meet their long-term partners in the workplace.
And according to research from the RICS, women comprise only 10% of the surveying profession, far lower than the proportion of women in the legal, medical and accounting professions.
So here’s another argument, in case one were needed, for more women in the industry.
|
|
|
● Speed dating is the dating craze aimed at single professionals in their 20s and 30s. ● Each date lasts just three minutes and, for £20, you get the chance to meet all the singles of the opposite sex in the room. ● When you arrive, you’re given a scorecard, a pen and a badge. ● After each date the organisers ring a bell. You mark on the scorecard whether or not you would like to see that date again before moving on to the next. If both of you want to see each other again, it’s a match. After the event you receive an e-mail from speeddater.co.uk with the e-mail addresses of your matches. |
