The Scoop: Now entering its 35th year, Drawing Down the Moon is one of the longest-running matchmaking firms in the UK. It has stayed in business so long by offering a trustworthy, values-driven service and providing caring support to every client seeking their assistance. The matchmakers specialize in pairing up compatible UK singles and facilitating long-term relationships. Around 75% of new clients join Drawing Down the Moon because they know a friend, colleague, or family member who has had success with the matchmakers. In the coming year, Drawing Down the Moon’s team plans to continue collaborating with dating professionals and setting the standard for how a world-class matchmaking firm operates.
Singles face an increasingly challenging dating environment. Dating sites and apps can whisk singles on a rollercoaster of emotions — a mutual match can become a ghosted conversation in less than a minute — and leave them feeling discouraged, disillusioned, and even disgusted by the modern dating scene.
Someone who wants to make a real connection can end up bogged down and overwhelmed by dating profiles that leave much to be desired. They have to judge compatibility based on very little information (sometimes only a photo!) and go on dates without really knowing if there’s a chance it’ll work out.
All that uncertainty leads some people to swear off online dating for good. Luckily, that’s not the only way to meet people these days.
CEO Gillian McCallum runs Drawing Down the Moon with steadfast compassion, insight, and integrity.
Traditional matchmaking has become an appealing alternative for active daters who are tired of searching for matches on their own. Relationship-minded singles can trust professional matchmakers to introduce them to compatible dates and offer valuable advice, feedback, and support every step of the way.
“The key thing is educating people,” said Gillian McCallum, CEO of Drawing Down the Moon, one of the oldest matchmaking companies in the UK. “People outside the dating industry don’t have this information available to them, so they’re not working with all the facts.”
Drawing Down the Moon has spent the last 30+ years guiding singles toward long-lasting relationships. These matchmakers can fill the information gap and offer singles a time-saving and stress-free dating experience where they know every introduction was selected for a reason. This old-school matchmaking company has perfected the match process and given countless singles hope that love is out there.
“The point is to leave yourself open to possibilities,” Gillian said. “If you want to have a family, and it’s a driving force in your life, you need to think about the qualities that are valuable to you and seek opportunities to meet those kinds of people.”
New Opportunities to Learn From Peers & Educate Clients
Though Drawing Down the Moon is the longest-running boutique matchmaking firm in the UK, the team isn’t satisfied resting on its laurels. The company continues to grow and improve under the leadership of Gillian (the current CEO) and Mary (the company’s founder).
Gillian will attend the Matchmakers Alliance Conference in Florida this October to collaborate and network with her colleagues in the industry. She has attended this international conference every year for the last four years and said she always learns something new.
“It’s a phenomenal opportunity to mix with our peers and learn from them,” she said. “Collaboration is huge for us because it means we can help clients all around the world by referring them to the best matchmakers whom we’ve gotten to know quite well.”
Drawing Down the Moon is an award-winning matchmaking service with 35+ years of success.
It’s important for Drawing Down the Moon’s matchmakers to stay in the know because they emphasize dating education throughout consultations with clients. They see it as part of their job to inform, educate, and counsel singles throughout the UK.
Gillian advises clients based on decades of experience in the matchmaking industry. Drawing Down the Moon has paired up thousands of couples and Gillian has listened to date feedback from hundreds if not thousands of single men and women, so she brings a knowledgeable perspective to the hunt for a date. Her goal is to help her clients find love and be receptive to a genuine relationship.
“People expect to have a clap of thunder when they meet the right person,” the matchmaker said. “But that’s not how it works. Sometimes a maybe doesn’t turn into a yes until a second, third, or fourth date.”
The matchmakers encourage clients to go into first dates with an open mind — because you never know what might happen. Not every successful match looks good on paper, and the matchmakers have learned to assess compatibility based on temperament, lifestyle, and goals rather than run through a superficial checklist.
“My key message to singles is that love is not a list,” Gillian said. “If you have too many dealbreakers, you could cancel out a huge number of fabulous, interesting, and capable matches.”
A Values-Driven Team Gives Back to the Community
When you work for a matchmaking company, your private life and your professional life can sometimes overlap. You’re in an environment that’s all about love, so it’s only natural to feel a personal connection to the company’s goals and want to carry its message of hope and empowerment to other parts of the community.
Many of Drawing Down the Moon’s employees volunteered in the UK on a regular basis, and some even took personal days from the company to contribute to good causes. Gillian saw this trend and was so touched by it that she decided to make it easier for her employees to give back without giving up their personal time off.
“Our staff feels our company cares — and we do care.” — Gillian McCallum, CEO of Drawing Down the Moon
Drawing Down the Moon now sets aside four days of paid time off exclusively for volunteer work. Every employee can use these four days to support causes they believe in and do a good deed on the company’s dime. Now the matchmakers can save their personal time for themselves and use the volunteer days to make the world a better place.
Gillian told us the new policy has been incredibly popular so far. “Our staff feels our company cares — and we do care,” she said. “We want to support our team in their private aims and ambitions to better the community.”
This new altruistic policy is sure to attract altruistic new hires who want to be part of the community-oriented culture at Drawing Down the Moon. Gillian is currently hiring matchmakers and said kindness and compassion are high on her list of desirable qualities for job applicants.
“We tend to hire kind people who are engaged in the larger world and want to change people’s lives,” she said. “We hire people who really care about clients and want to make a difference.”
Building on a Legacy of Excellence & Success
Drawing Down the Moon has stayed in business for decades by building trust with clients and putting their happiness first. Because of the team’s caring and dedication, the company boasts a 75% referral rate — that means three-quarters of new clients have been referred by a former client. Many clients have had success and shared their stories and testimonials on the Drawing Down the Moon website.
“If we hadn’t walked through the doors of Drawing Down the Moon,” one married couple wrote, “we never would have met. Thank you so much!”
One married couple met in July 1998 and sent a note to the matchmakers to say they are still in love and happier than ever. “It was a case of ‘love at first sight’ on both sides,” A.S. wrote. “We’re so happy with each other and could not imagine being apart.”
Some of Drawing Down the Moon’s clients have been together for decades and still refer friends and family members to the UK matchmakers. “That’s a testament to the fact that we’ve been around such a long time,” Gillian said. “We now have the children of the clients we’ve matched coming to us.”
“Drawing Down the Moon works. It is also a glorious adventure,” said S.C. in a testimonial. “I never had a meeting or conversation that was not interesting. Many were delightful. All of them moved me toward what I was looking for in a way that I will not forget.”
Looking to the future, the Drawing Down the Moon team will endeavor to add more success stories to its collection and gather photos of its matched couples to wallpaper its office with in celebration of its 35th anniversary.
“I want to do all I can to maintain our stellar reputation,” Gillian told us. “I feel a responsibility to continue to build on the company’s legacy and provide the high-level of service people have come to expect from us.”
Drawing Down the Moon Continues Exceeding Expectations
Looking for a high-caliber soul mate on a dating site can be an incredibly frustrating experience because singles have to do all the work. They have to create their profiles, browse for matches, assess compatibility, and arrange dates based a combination of ill-informed dating theories and outright guesswork. Not the most fruitful and enjoyable experience.
Matchmaking has the ability to remove the guesswork from dating and give daters access to matches they may not have found on their own. Drawing Down the Moon has had decades of success matching up singles and fostering relationships throughout the UK. It has earned its unimpeachable reputation in the dating industry, and the values-driven team continue to lead with integrity and compassion as they enter their 35th year.
In the coming years, Gillian said she plans to continue using the time-tested matching system that has worked so well for so long, and she hopes to maintain a values-driven team of individuals who truly care about the matchmaking company’s mission to better the world.
“One of the key things for me right now is making sure I’m looking after my staff and supporting them,” she said. “So they can go on to look after and support our clients.”
