When romance is at a premium

'Some investment banks pay for staff to use my services,' says Virginia Sweetingham of Berkeley Sweetingham International. 'It makes sense for organisations. A lot of people work long hours and travel a lot, which makes life hard because you don't always meet people in a departure lounge.' She declines, however, to name any of her clients.

Firms such as Berkeley Sweetingham object to the 'dating agency' appellation. Instead it refers to itself as a 'bespoke introduction service', or more appropriately for investment bankers, as a 'personal headhunter', which sources partners especially for its clients.

Berkeley Sweetingham is not the only purveyor of partners to professionals. Perceiving a growing market, others are moving in on the scene. The Canapé Crowd was recently established to enable 'attractive intelligent professionals' to meet similar others at 'fab cocktail parties'.

The Financial Times has edged into the niche, with its own Affairs of the Heart page in its weekend magazine. All are adamant that the time of the introductory service has come.

James Burton at the FT says: 'There's less stigma attached to it now than there was in the past. People recognise that time is short and that the people we come into contact with professionally may not suit us personally.'

Together with lawyers, doctors and consultants, investment bankers are introductory services' principal clients. Service provider Sara Eden says it has enquiry calls from about three investment bankers daily.

Despite the obvious advantages of working in a male environment, women are as much in need of assistance as men. A client of Berkeley Sweetingham, Caroline, is an investment banker. 'I've spent the past few years in New York and Hong Kong, working long hours without the chance to meet anyone. Now I'm looking for a partner who is not an investment banker. Some of the people I'm meeting don't know anything about the industry and it's refreshing to be taken at face value.'

Fulfilment does not come cheaply. Clients of Berkeley Sweetingham pay 5,000 to retain its services. Fees of this magnitude can make old-fashioned self-managed romance seem appealing. But for the modern career person, self-management is hard work.

Lee Brice, a coach at the Change Partnership, says: 'The circumstances for finding a partner disappear when you're involved in a demanding career. To overcome this, you have to develop a logical strategy and approach the issue in the same way that you would approach a business goal. You need to think 'what kind of person would be appropriate for me?' Conduct research into where you may find this person. Pay attention to your appearance. Attend parties, and network.'

But acquiring a partner is only the beginning. 'The real problem is sustaining the relationship,' says Brice. 'It's difficult to see each other enough. To have a decent relationship you need to have a lot of shared fun, not just the odd weekend together.'

Half of all marriages in the UK fail. Long hours put investment bankers under particular pressure, and new technology means that even during valuable time at home, the office is omnipresent. One ex-wife of an investment banker complains: 'He'd arrive home in the evening and almost immediately his phone would ring. There wasn't even time to argue.'

There is some dispute as to whether investment bankers are best partnered with fellow investment bankers. Robert Westlake of the Personal Effectiveness Centre, which provides relationship counselling, says that the chance of a relationship being successful is higher where one partner has a less stressful job. Lee Brice disagrees: 'If a partner is in the same industry, there is much more tolerance.' This is affirmed by a banker at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter: 'If you don't come home when you said you would then that's fine - they know that's just the way it goes.'

But harassment cases mean that the office is increasingly out of bounds as a hunting ground. A good alternative is the MBA course. Investment banker Gillian Wheelock met her fiancé while studying for an MBA at the London Business School. 'You meet like-minded, type-A people with the same approach to life. You work hard, but you also play hard, and there is not the taboo about relationships that there is at work.'

However, at more than 20,000, an MBA is not a cheap route to amorous entanglement. Berkeley Sweetingham is cost-effective by comparison. But the time may yet come when agencies' services are included in benefits packages. But some are less convinced. 'I find it extraordinary and bizarre,' says one happily married HR director.