| Money can buy you love
 THESE
days if you want to find the perfect partner you can simply get somebody
else to do it for you.
Just one catch you have to be a millionaire! Or at least loaded.
If you’re looking for short, tall, handsome, sophisticated, clever
or somebody with poker-straight hair your wish is their command!
Two of the most noted match-makers scouring the London market happen to
be Irish.
Their elite clients pay massive joining fees for their services and their
skills are in huge demand.
Mairead Molloy has over 1,000 clients on her books at Berkeley-International
and a high success rate that means she is continually interviewing suitable
candidates.
The 38-year-old said: “We take on people from all walks of life
we’re not ageist, and have people between 19 and 80 looking for
marriage, kids or companionship. I know that there is somebody out there
for every client.
“But we are discerning in who we accept too. Our clients are elite,
they pay well for what they get (£5,000 for 18 months) but our service
is great we provide everything from gym-membership to wine-tasting evenings.”
Taking a risk in 1999 Mairead moved from a career as a hotel manager in
Dublin to buying her own hotel in Cannes. Four years later she sold that
venture and through a friend took up her next challenge as match-maker
in London in 2003.
Becoming a good match-maker is not about qualifications it’s about
character according to Mairead.
She said: “You have to be intuitive and be able to talk and listen
to people I think being Irish is definitely an asset. We’re a great
people are we not?”
Mairead finds suitable matches by attending private members clubs and
always keeping her mind and eyes open. If you are a potential lucky match
and single she will subtly slip you her business card and ask you to call
her.
The Wexford-born lady commutes between Cannes and London living in France
at the weekend. Her fluent French and Cannes-born partner ensures she
makes a smooth transition between the two countries. But Mairead assures
me that it’s no easy life.
She said: “Trekking back and forth between airports every Friday
and Monday, rushing with your plastic Clinique bag in hand to make your
flight it’s not exactly glamorous but it’s great fun. I meet
lovely, funky people everyday.”
Rachel MacLynn is another Irish match-maker of amazing self-determination.
She holds a degree in Psychology, a Masters Degree in Occupational Psychology
and is soon to become a Chartered Occupational Psychologist. Unlike Mairead
she is willing to admit that her job is glamorous she loves what she does
and couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
She said: “I have always been involved in psychology and have
always been good at meeting new people and discovering who they are but
I didn’t realise that all these facets could be part of match-making.
This is my dream job I get to live in London, go to brilliant parties
and meet fantastic people every day.” Rachel who hails from Holywood in the North of Ireland admits her accent
and Irish identity means she gets on well with her clients and adds to
her success as one of the top personal profilers.
In 2005 she ran the New York Marathon for 21st Century kids a charity
for underprivileged children and the Northern Ireland Chest, Heart and
Stroke Foundation. She decided to do this following the early death of
her much-admired father from heart disease.
Like Mairead Rachel’s clients have high assets but she promises
a unique profiling ability in being a trained psychologist along with
all her colleagues.
Seventy-thirty is the only psychological profiling agency of it’s
kind in Europe.
Rachel, who has a twin-brother in Australia, said: “We take on
all people who we believe we can really help. Age officially doesn’t
matter my oldest client is 73 and my youngest is 25.
“Our main challenge is matching people with their values, their
religious or political beliefs and their direction in life.
“Our main clients fall into two categories. People in and around
their 40s who have been focused on their career and now feel it’s
time to have a family but don’t have time to waste by going on pointless
dates.
“And also people in their 50s and 60s who have come out of a marriage
or lost a partner and are now looking for companionship to enjoy their
life with someone special.”
But how do you find people to match your clients with?
Rachel said: “I have to build up my own contacts. I am always enlisting
for a network of people from luxury brands, professionals, and journalists.
“It’s very important for me to maintain a good reputation
and that way I get invited to events where I can find such people that
my clients are looking for.”
Mairead and Rachel both enforce the fact that their industry is no match
or miss game.
Rachel said: “We’re a very serious organisation. We’re
not going to match a 60year old man with a 25-year-old girl by any stretch
of the imagination.
“We match people on our personal understanding of what makes people
compatible.”
Oozing with personality and professionalism you can see why both these
Irish ladies are so good at what they do.
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