That, if you will permit me to co-opt the celebrated advertising line from a certain Belgian lager, is pertinent in the case of another Belgian export: Inga Verbeeck, who arrives at Mere, the swish Fitzrovia restaurant opened by Monica Galetti (of Masterchef fame) and her husband David earlier this year, fresh from the airport with barely a blonde hair out of place.<\/p>\n
Verbeeck is the founder of Ivy Relations, a matchmaker whose typical clients are worth \u00a320 million, with offices in Antwerp, New York and Geneva. She\u2019s in London to catch up with some of her UK clients, and as we scan the pleasingly minimalist Mere menus (\u2018Lamb\u2019, \u2018Octopus\u2019 etc) she cuts to the chase. \u2018We are a service provider that saves people time,\u2019 she says, \u2018and time is the only commodity you cannot buy. Most of people\u2019s regrets when they\u2019re about to die is how they spent it. So you might want to think about that.\u2019<\/p>\n
I\u2019m doing just that \u2013 from lamb to love to regret-tinged-death \u2013 as Verbeeck tells me that it\u2019s harder than ever for single HNWs to meet the person of their dreams, thanks to the pressures of work and social fragmentations exacerbated by the internet. Next she drops the f-bomb: \u2018Don\u2019t misunderstand me, I\u2019m an independent woman, but because of the whole feminist movement a lot of men are confused. They are not sure what women want.\u2019<\/p>\n
The good news is Verbeeck does: \u2018I don\u2019t know one single successful independent woman who doesn\u2019t want their male partner to be respectful, but masculine and stronger,\u2019 she declares. So where are the loneliest HNWs in the world? \u2018Switzerland,\u2019 she declares.<\/p>\n
Since 2011 Ivy Relations has helped 300 couples tie the knot. Right now it has 900 \u2018active members\u2019 (out of a pool of 3,000) and has ambitions to get that up to 5,000, at which point the firm will be nearing \u00a3100 million turnover. She\u2019d like to be at \u00a350 million by 2022. \u2018The fact of the matter is that it is a proper business \u2013 it\u2019s a\u00a0real<\/em>\u00a0business.\u2019<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/ingaverbeeck.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Liquid-Lunch.jpg\")
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