Patrick MacDonald first opened the doors of RSVP to the singletons of Northamptonshire in 1992. Such was the demand - and the lack of credible, sophisticated alternatives - that the formula of hand-picked introductions and stylish events soon spread to Leicester and Bedford. Further expansion quickly followed as the organisation grew and Patrick was joined by General Manager Gaynor Macrow, who still keeps RSVP running like clockwork today. Through high-profile advertising and an enviable word-of-mouth reputation, RSVP soon became the way to meet your new partner across the Heart of England. Birmingham, Leicester and Rugby soon sprouted RSVP offices as the membership expanded to cover the locations RSVP serves today. By 2006, RSVP had over 14,000 lifetime members on its books.

After 14 years leading one of the most successful introductions and events services in the UK, Patrick finally decided to retire in 2006, leaving the organisation in great shape for enthusiastic new owners. You can download the full history of RSVP here.

RSVP today is a family-owned organisation - led by husband and wife team Anne and Roland Stringer. Anne is chief matchmaker: "I wanted to do something which changes peoples lives. And you only have to look at the wonderful letters we receive to know that RSVP certainly does that".

"I have a strong conviction that we should operate according to our values and beliefs. We're quite close to being a club and that brings the ethos of running it for the benefit of the members." Indeed, the fact that members frequently refer to RSVP as 'we', suggests that the ethos works.

RSVP is a technology-aware organisation, rather than a technology-based one. "Yes," says Anne, "we've invested heavily in technology, but what makes us distinctive and what people seek out is our level of personal service. The technology means we can work smarter, achieve better matches for members and stay in touch with people using their preferred communication method".

"I'm also hugely proud of the fact that we welcome people of all ages over 25. So many agencies confine their attention to the under 55s. But at RSVP, everyone's welcome. After all, everyone needs love."

Our experienced General Manager

Gaynor makes sure the office runs like clockwork and oversees most of the matchmaking. Gaynor has been with RSVP sinces its beginnings in 1992 and met her partner through RSVP.

"The secret of our success", confides Gaynor, "lies in us using three different factors in our matching:

• Fact
• Personality
• Instinct

And very few agencies can offer all three". It's because RSVP takes such care over the initial interview that we can draw on all three of these factors in our matchmaking.

Head Office

One of the principal advantages of RSVP over cheap and not very cheerful dating sites is that there's always someone to talk to. And whether that's before you join, when you're looking for advice on the different forms of membership, or during your membership, you'll find our many specially-trained friendly advisers are at the end of a telephone 9am - 9pm weekdays and 10am - 1pm on Saturdays. You never need feel alone with RSVP.

Though we're happy to take enquiries through our website or by email, many of our members - and prospective members - still prefer the personal touch and like to call us.

And we're only too happy with members calling us, since it allows us to get to know them better and keep constant tabs on how they're doing with their introductions and events. It's the complete opposite from the harsh anonymity of internet dating; members feel they belong to something really special, as they frequently tell us. We can also let them know about extra events in their area and take feedback on how we're doing, too.

Hosts also part of the family

The line between RSVP and its members has always been blurred. Many RSVP members have become close friends and we rely on their goodwill to help us organise such a wonderfully wide collection of events every month.

One of our best-known members is Carol, who hosts many of our events in Birmingham and is always there as a buddy for new members. She knows how it feels to be coming along to your first RSVP event and has some sage advice for new members:

"Now, I know it’s not easy going along to an event for the first time. At many events, I’ll admit to still getting the “colly wobbles” beforehand, but when you get there, you’ll find that everyone is friendly and welcoming; after all, we've all been there! And, we are all there for the same thing - to make new friends and meet that special someone. Every event is hosted; if you are really nervous about going in on your own, call the host and ask them to meet you outside. You will find that they are all happy to do this."

Get to meet Carol and our other hosts at some of the 60 events every month on offer to all RSVP members.

Aiming to be a good corporate citizen

We're only too well aware that all organisations - just like individuals - make an impact on the world around them. We constantly strive to minimise the adverse and maximise the beneficial impact we have on the world around us.

We're strong supporters of charities and endeavour to give our chosen causes a hand whenever we can. Read here about Kerry, Theresa and Anne's exploits in raising money for endangered mountain gorillas.

We've critically assessed our environmental impacts and concluded that these fall in four main areas:

1. Travel. Our client advisers travel to meet new members and wherever they feasibly can, they travel by train. We also implore prospective members not to stand us up, because that's the ultimate waste of scarce resources; we'll always happily rearrange an appointment if it turns out to be inconvenient.

2. Paper. We produce a beautiful quarterly calendar and, necessarily, a fair bit of marketing material. We always aim to print these on recycled paper and minimise wastage. The shredding we produce in our office gets recycled by our introductions administrator, Sarah; her rabbit and guinea pigs say it's the finest nest-building material they've encountered.

3. Post. Historically, RSVP has been a good customer of Royal Mail but we know that each item creates extra journeys and uses paper. Accordingly, we're doing our best to encourage our members to receive their introductions by email, which makes our service both faster and more environmentally-friendly.

4. Power. We've carefully chosen our computers for their low power consumption and we use LCD monitors throughout. We operate a dial-in network so our staff can work from home if they need to - or from anywhere in the world they happen to be.

In time, we're sure there's more we can do, but we hope you'll support us in our pursuit of these aims.