A PAIR of Hampstead men have come up with a unique way of meeting the opposite sex

Penny Stretton

A PAIR of Hampstead men have come up with a unique way of meeting the opposite sex.

Best friends Teddy Liefer and David Cohen, both 23, got so fed up with a string of disastrous dates that they set up the website www.dateswithmates.com

A series of unfortunate nights out with women left Mr Liefer, of Downshire Hill, toying with the idea of joining a dating agency.

But because of fear of being ridiculed by friends for looking for love online, the film producer instead hooked up with his mate to set up the website.

Mr Cohen, who lives in Swiss Cottage, said: "Teddy had a look at dating sites but I wasn't convinced. I thought if I could go along with a mate it would be fine.

"I searched around and realised nobody in Europe was doing this type of thing so we set it up and launched it last week."

The double-dating website aims to takes the embarrassment out of internet dating by putting the emphasis on having fun as a group of friends.

Mr Cohen added: "The whole idea is to be more fun. A lot of sites have profiles with questions like 'how much do you earn' or 'what is your star sign', which are things you can find out when you get to know someone.

"We get people to answer things like 'who did you have a poster of on your wall when you were growing up?' because we think it gives more of a personal insight."

At dateswithmates.com pairs or groups of mates can create a joint profile with a team name and then browse teams of girls or boys to double date with.

The website has generated sign-ups through word of mouth and Mr Cohen and Mr Liefer, team name The Founders, have already had some great dates.

Mr Liefer said: "We've been on two dates recently and had a lot of fun. It's great and there is not the usual pressure of one-on-one dating."

The boys are keen to stress that the site is not for swingers and that the idea behind it is to help people feel relaxed and less stressed about the dating game.

"People have been more imaginative when arranging dating venues which is encouraging and girls have been writing to tell us they feel safer going out with friends and freer to enjoy themselves," said Mr Cohen.

For more information visit www.dateswithmates.com or email info@dateswithmates.co. uk.

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