Merv eyes dating industry ahead of interest rate decision
by Richard Speigal
Geek Boy
Wednesday, 12th January 2011
With the Bank of England due to make another decision on interest rates, I felt it was high time to dust off my anorak and give Mervyn King a hand by delving through the vast archive of event data we've amassed since 2008.
We've listed nearly 8,000 singles events in that period and by far the most popular format remains speed dating, accounting for 80% of events held. It continues to be a great way to meet people and attracts huge numbers of participants because, well... it just plain works!
2009: Annus Horribilis
The dating events market hasn't been untouched by the financial crisis and we've been tracking ticket prices through a tough period for organisers.
When the recession hit and people were spending less, ticket prices dropped - it got cheaper to go dating in 2009. The trend continued through most of 2010 (see graph below) with prices continuing to fall.
And then we turned a corner...
In September 2010 the situation reversed and ticket prices have steadily increased, showing a rise of 5.5% in December on the same period last year.
This is bad news for Merv - it's another sign of inflation.
But it's actually very good news for hosts because it would seem some confidence is returning. Ticket prices are still slightly cheaper than their 2008/2009 peak (although the gap is closing very fast) and it looks like dating hosts are seeing a return to pre-recession spending levels. Good times!
For fellow anoraks, here's a run down on speed dating prices in 2010 (or download the full spreadsheet here).
| Period | No. Events | Avg. price | Yearly change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan-10 | 211 | £18.76 | -4.584% |
| Feb-10 | 271 | £19.10 | -0.262% |
| Mar-10 | 274 | £19.08 | 0.210% |
| Apr-10 | 251 | £18.89 | 1.694% |
| May-10 | 245 | £19.46 | 2.878% |
| Jun-10 | 239 | £17.84 | -6.783% |
| Jul-10 | 267 | £18.03 | -5.824% |
| Aug-10 | 236 | £18.59 | -2.367% |
| Sep-10 | 288 | £19.27 | 1.401% |
| Oct-10 | 276 | £19.11 | 0.785% |
| Nov-10 | 263 | £19.20 | 3.698% |
| Dec-10 | 151 | £19.08 | 5.503% |
Our data includes the UK's major event hosts including SpeedDater, Slow Dating, XFactor Dates and more - see our full list of hosts here »
topic tags: speed dating, statistics
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about the author
Richard is the technical brains behind Dating Trail and prefers conversations in binary to real human contact. However he does know some strange things about dating; albeit not from experience (he's asexual like an amoeba) but rather from crunching numbers and peering into databases. He's nerdy but sometimes interesting.
Coverage includes: London speed dating | Birmingham speed dating | Manchester speed dating | Brighton speed dating | Bristol speed dating | and more...
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