Professional men and women, roughly 45 to 65

Courtship, done the way you were raised to do it.

Common Ground is a personal introduction service for professionals who share the same interests and the same values. No swiping, no profiles on display. We meet every member ourselves, we introduce you to one person at a time, and we still believe in the old order of things: friendship first, courting done properly, and an honest intention to build something that lasts.

Every member interviewed in person. Nothing about you published anywhere, ever.

You have probably tried the apps. Hours of typing, photographs judged in half a second, conversations that go nowhere, people who are not honest about being single, and a strange feeling afterwards that you have been shopping rather than meeting anyone.

This is the other way of doing it. A person who has met you both, who knows what you actually want, who makes one careful introduction and then tells you the truth about how it went. That is how people met before, and it worked.

What we stand for

Old fashioned values, taken seriously

Not nostalgia for its own sake. These are the things our members told us they were missing, and we hold everyone here to them.

The man asks

He makes the invitation, chooses somewhere decent, books it and picks up the first bill. A woman here is never left wondering whether she is being pursued or merely tolerated.

Friendship first

Liking someone comes before anything else. Our members are looking for a companion for the next thirty years, and that starts with the sort of conversation you could have every evening.

Honest intention

Everyone here has said out loud that they want a lasting relationship. Nobody is passing time, keeping options open or collecting attention.

Manners

Phone calls rather than a week of texting. Turning up when you said you would. Saying so plainly if the feeling is not there, rather than disappearing.

Discretion

No photographs online, no public profile, no algorithm. Your colleagues, your clients and your grown children will never come across you here.

Patience

One introduction at a time, considered properly. We would rather make four good ones a year than forty that waste your evenings.

Getting started

Three steps before you meet anyone

Most members are introduced to someone within a month of their interview.

You register your interest

A short message is enough. We reply within two working days and offer you a call at a time that suits, evenings included.
We meet you properly

An hour or more, in person where we can. Your life, your work, what went wrong before, what you are hoping for and what you will not compromise on. We check identity and that you are genuinely free.
We make an introduction

One person, chosen with reasons we can explain to you both. If you both say yes, he gets in touch and asks her out. Afterwards we ring you both and listen carefully.

Who is on the register

People with something to bring to a life

Consultants and GPs, engineers, head teachers, solicitors, nurses, accountants, business owners, senior managers, tradespeople who run their own firms. Most are between forty five and sixty five. Divorced, widowed, or never married and no longer content with that.

They have full weeks and settled lives. What they do not have is a decent way of meeting someone of the same calibre and the same outlook, because the places that used to do that quietly disappeared.

Interviewed face to face before joining the register
Identity, single status and professional background checked
Asked directly what they want, and held to the answer
Removed without refund if they are dishonest with us

We are not trying to give you a full diary. We are trying to introduce you to one person you will still be having breakfast with in twenty years.
What we tell every new member at interview

Plain about what this is

A serious introduction agency for people seeking a lasting relationship, and nothing else. Not an app, not a casual dating service, not a companionship or escort service of any kind. If that is what you are after, we are the wrong people and we will say so kindly.

Tell us who you are hoping to meet

One message starts it. The first conversation costs nothing and puts you under no obligation at all.