Describing itself as ‘the Facebook for people who haven’t met yet’, members share over 8 million interactions every day, with Global Personals gaining a new member every six seconds. The business creates a platform for thousands of online dating sites to be built, the majority of which are privately owned and managed by website owners.
Founder and CEO Ross Williams created his first agency during his time at university in 1997. In 2003, armed with just a credit card, Ross alongside Steve Pammenter created Global Personals. Since then the business has grown a tremendous amount, resulting in Ross being shortlisted for Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006, selected for Top 10 to Watch in 2007, and nominated in two categories in the Fast Growth Business Awards in 2008.
Global Personals has a very impressive portfolio of over 7,500 sites with over 1,500 brand name partners internationally, such as FHM, Magic and The Independent. Partners benefit from Global Personals by using White Label Dating, a fully supported free to set up platform created by Steve Pammenter, which enables any organisation to run their own dating website regardless of their size. Branded as ‘the simplest way to break into the dating industry’, White Label Dating allows an individual to set up their own dating site or an established brand to monetise its existing customer base – all you have to do is attract traffic to your site.
Members benefit from Global Personals’ mobile web platform; designed for speed and performance, customers are able to use geolocation services in order to find people in their area, whilst also having the opportunity to ‘flirt’ with people on the other side of the world.
The business has used its inherent tech capabilities to continually adapt in order to keep up with social media trends; the development of a new API has allowed for app development and links GP’s services to sites such as Facebook, a key strategy for growth and innovation through the sharing of information between members.
Founded in Windsor, Global Personals now has offices in London, New York and Melbourne, and has reported an annual revenue of $50m in 2011. In January 2012 Global Personals celebrated their 10 millionth member. Their easy-to-use, ready-made dating platform has attracted a huge number of partners at this stage, and the ever-changing technology embedded within the platform will continue to attract partners, both big and small.
