The prospect of trying to find a new partner in life, specially now that I have adult children and grandchildren, would have me quaking in my boots and heading for life as a hermit.

Fortunately, I’m not in that boat. I’m in a settled, stable relationship of more than 25 years with my wife. But conversations with a new client, Renee Brown from dating agency Corporate Cupid, got me thinking about just what a nightmare it would be if I were back on the dating scene.

I’ve heard some shocking stories about some of those seedier online dating apps. I’m definitely not going to be posting pictures of my slightly ageing body parts in a bid to woo a damsel.

Even on what I presume are more ‘polite’ dating websites, I’d be nervous about whether the person on the other side of the internet was real, or using pictures of themselves from a dim and distant past. And for heaven’s sake, what would a woman looking at my ugly mug make of reading my profile?

And how much do I really want strange women laughing at what I consider to be my best assets?

As a youngster I didn’t much worry about potential dates. First at school and then at work, attractive women who must have been captivated by my witty repartee kept me from too many games of solitaire.

Socialising at the pub after work with both male and female colleagues was a much more fashionable thing to do than it seems to be now, at least in my circle of friends, who work longer hours and have little respite from the office’s digital demands.

It means we’re all in a tail-chasing spiral that precludes the kind of social interaction that could lead to love.

So where does that leave busy executives, no longer in their first flush of youth, with perhaps a long-term relationship or two behind them to have helped set them – rightly or wrongly – firmly in their ways?

Renee Brown reckons it's back to basics, but with a modern twist.

She’s a big fan of some of those good old-fashioned boy-meets-girl traditions, sitting down with every client to identify who they are and what they would like in their ideal partner.

It’s much more of a match-maker approach, but with the benefit of specialist software that gives the natural romance in the air a little nudge – helping Renee to put the right people together.

Maybe in my imagined singledom I could cope with a fireside chat with Renee, who would try and work out my character foibles and find some remarkable woman who might be able to put up with those quirks and then give me the confidence to go out on a date.

“And you don’t organise a date by text or email, the man picks up the phone and speaks to the woman,” Renee says.

Hmm, might need a bit of coaching to get me up to that level of bravery.

But Renee’s full of handy tips.

Arrange a first date over coffee and meet outside the café to avoid that awkward prowl from table to table looking for somebody who seems to match the photograph you’ve seen, armfuls of flowers -  no matter how sweet a gesture – is a no-no, and for heaven’s sake, no bragging about your sexual encounters of recent years.

And while I’d need a lot of hand-holding through this process, I wonder how much more difficult it would be for a gay or lesbian person in the same circumstances?

In what Renee believes to be a WA first, she’s also putting her psychology expertise to work to match same-sex couples.

She believes match-making for same sex couples has been too long in coming to WA.

“Perth is a notoriously difficult city to meet new people in, it’s very cliquey and hard for people to widely mix,” she says.

“Imagine how much more difficult it is for gay people looking to meet life partners.”

Fortunately, that’s one hurdle I don’t have to jump. I’m glad I’m in my shoes, but heaven forbid if I ever have to go looking for love, then a fireside chat with Renee would be a good starting point.

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