Sweet Valentine.

Just a reminder that Valentine's Day is coming up soon.

Just love the colours of these artistic hand-iced luxe biscuits from Biscuiteers. 
Perfect for the secret  Picasso with romance in the heart.

Valentine’s thought of the day:- Can Money Buy you Love?

It’s raining cats and dogs outside, and together with gale force winds, it does make this Valentine’s day in London quite un-romantic.

Image from Valtags - designed by Valentine Breton des Loÿs  - creator of the original
Valentine Tags.

But here’s the thought.  If you have money, can it buy you love? 

According to new research from Mintel, apparently love can be purchased.

Here are the figures.  The report has revealed that today, a lonely 7% of the UK have never fallen in love, but this rises to 17% of those with an income under £9,500 and decreases to just 4% of those with an income of over £50,000.  

If you want more figures ... the propensity to have never fallen in love decreases incrementally with income bracket - with 9% with an income of £9,500 - £15,499 claiming this, this declines to 7% with an income of £15,500 - £24,999, and just 5% with an income of £25,000 - £49,999. Furthermore, those with an income of over £50,000 were also most likely to have fallen in love five times or more during their lifetime, at 11% compared with an average of 8%.

Richard Cope, Senior Trends Analyst at Mintel, said:
“The fact that our research shows that money is equated with success in love is interesting because more of us are actually paying for dating services that promise to help us find it. Quite simply more money may equate to more social opportunities... and as a result more partners. We’re having more sexual and romantic partners during our lifetimes for a number of reasons. Connectivity has increased our availability, whilst taboos are breaking down. Amongst the young, celebrity culture has made whirlwind romances something to aspire to, and break-ups nothing to be ashamed of. We’re also seeing a new generation of sexually active seniors - liberated by Viagra and a social acceptance of divorce - coming back on to the market.”
Indeed, for those looking for love, using a free dating website tops the list of actions taken - some three in ten (28%) Brits have looked for love in this way - and for the first time this year this method has now drawn level with meeting through friends in first place - at 28%.

The remaining top five ways to meet someone in 2014 are: paid dating sites (12%), meeting someone at work (12% - down from 16% in 2013) and going to more events (such as art galleries and museums) at 10%. If you’re a straight man in search of love this Valentine’s Day, galleries and museums might be the way to find it - as women are more than twice as likely to choose this option (15% versus 7%).

“We’re seeing consumers increasingly looking at dating sites as services worth paying for and a number of factors are going to increase our dependence on systems rather than serendipity. We’re less likely to look to meet someone at work, purely because the very concept of ‘work’ as a fixed geographic location is itself in decline, with increasing numbers of us working independently or at home, whilst we’re being reared on the notion of our own individuality and the belief that we need tools and filters to find other like-minded individuals, rather than put our faith in supposedly hokey old adages like ‘opposites attract’.” Richard adds.