MATCHMAKER who met the man of her dreams along the way...Brianne Tillyer in her Brisbane Dating Agency office.
Scott Murdoch
 Picture: Suzanna Clarke

BRISBANE dating agency owner Brianne Tillyer can attest to the positives in putting your pride aside and admitting that you're single.

Twelve years ago, Ms Tillyer took a job as a dating agency consultant, loved the industry, then three years later bought You and I Get Together, Brisbane's oldest introduction agency.

She matchmade hundreds of couples, some of whom are now married - and, four months ago, met a man who caught her eye.

She and partner Russell believe they are typical of Brisbane singletons - mature, established in a career and sick of sitting in nightclubs on a Friday night hoping for a hook-up.

The Brisbane singles scene, she said, was growing, with plenty of people looking to meet others.
"We deal mainly with people over 25, because younger than that you still go out with a group of girlfriends or mates and be out there in the scene," Ms Tillyer said.

"But 28 to 29-year-old people have got their careers, they are more interested in dinner parties and get-togethers with friends at home.

"They know who and what they are looking for, and don't want to sit on a bar stool every Friday night."

Ms Tillyer said that, apart from the young professionals, the agency's second largest group of customers consisted of people in their 40's.

However, there's no typical individual. This week the group signed up and 80-year-old man looking for love.
"We get a real combination of people. There's people who have been married, headed down the job path, get divorced or become widowed," she said.

"Those people see us as an avenue to meet a new face.

"We also have a big division of 45-plus people, in their 50's, who are looking for companionship."

You and I Get Together has also avoided the tempatation to become involved in internet dating, a drawcard for many agencies.

Ms Tillyer said many singles initially were drawn to net dating but later turned back to traditional methods of meeting people.

Neither does the agency operate speed-dating, a new trend wherein groups of unattached males and females rotate after spending only minutes talking.
The Queensland dating agency industry has been cleaned up after legislation was introduced last year to eliminate dubious operators.


"The Internet was very negative for this industry, for various reasons when it became popular," Ms Tillyer said.

"But now we seem to piggy-back off it and it has become quite positive.

"I have found that people start on the Internet and get sick of spending hours trawling through photos without actually meeting anyone - so they come to us.

"Brisbane has a really strong singles industry at the moment. I think that's a combination of more people moving to the city and others seeing an agency and realise it's a responsible industry."