– Our Leadership TEAM –
Shaping Excellence in Love’s Marketplace
Heather Heber-Percy
Chairman
Heather Heber-Percy is well known throughout the UK dating industry since she started up her own dating agency called Country Partners, in 1983. The agency became a huge success and covered the entire country at a time when there were only four other dating agencies – introduction agencies as they were called then – in the UK. Huge positive media coverage helped to provide a much-needed and trustworthy dating service in both Town and Country areas. Heather’s background at the time was as a trainer for The Samaritans. She continued with the Samaritans for a further ten years at various centres throughout the country.
In the 1990s, Heather went on to create another specialised dating service called The County Register and was the first person in the UK to come up with the idea of headhunting for people wanting to find a partner in life. Heather also became a Director of Praxis, a well known Interim Management Company based in the Midlands – one of the first of its kind. The founder and CEO Carl Hague had enormously creative ideas that spilled over into Heather’s own business, helping her to develop The County Register even further.
Again in the 1990s, Heather became the Chairman of The Association of British Introduction Agencies, but resigned in 2020, to help further develop The Dating Agency Association, a newer and forward-thinking Association that traditional dating agencies within the UK today may wish to become a part of.
Edward G Ankrett
Founder
Meet ‘Mr. Dating’ Eddy Ankrett, who was appointed as the Independent Chairman of the Dating Agency Association on 27th March 2017 after a long and successful career within the dating industry.
His involvement has been with the companies he founded in the 1990s, Elite Introductions, Dateline, Dateline Holdings, Global Personals, The Dating Factory and Match Me Now. He brings with him a wealth of experience from within the industry and externally, where he is one of the best known and best-connected businessmen in the Midlands, with experience as a business owner, entrepreneur, Director and Chairman of PLC and private companies.
Eddy has an infectious positivity and natural enthusiasm for dating. Eddy has long been an advocate of personal matchmaking and indeed formed his own first venture into dating around this traditional face to face concept. He is committed to the promotion of traditional face to face personal introductions and particularly the safety aspects of dating. He is a significant force behind our dating safely campaign.
Malcolm Farrow OBE FCMI
Compliance Officer
Malcolm spent most of his working life in the Royal Navy. He was on the staff of the Task Group Commander at sea in HMS Hermes during the Falkland War of 1982.
Leaving the Navy in 1996 he became a Senior Civil Servant and Chief Executive of a security agency in the Cabinet Office. However, in 1999 he rejoined the Navy to direct the International Festival of The Sea in 2001 and again in 2005 together with the bicentenary service of commemoration for Nelson in St Paul’s Cathedral. He was appointed OBE in 2002. He finally left the Navy at the end of 2005.
Since then, he worked for a number of small charities and in 2016 was joint founder of the Association of Service Drop-In Centres which supports small organisations helping vulnerable military veterans and families throughout the UK. In 2021 he launched a project to link Genova and the City of London in a trading and cultural partnership. He retired in 2023 and lives in the South Downs where he goes off-road cycling. Malcolm places great store on good leadership backed by efficient and transparent management structures, clear lines of responsibility, and an informal atmosphere where everyone’s opinion is valued. A long-time vexillologist, he has been President of the Flag Institute for several years.
Mat Bullock
Chief Technical Officer
Mat Bullock brings over 30 years of experience in business, technology, and digital innovation. He has led the development of AI-powered platforms, CRM systems, and automated marketing tools that help businesses scale efficiently. As the founder of Brainbox AI CRM and Social Command, Mat has overseen the design and implementation of systems used by franchises, entrepreneurs, and established companies across multiple industries. His focus is on creating practical, scalable technology that simplifies operations and drives growth.