A Hatfield founder's Hertfordshire dating site will have no swiping: every introduction is made by hand, for one £9.99 monthly price. Joining the list is free.
A dating site being built in Hatfield for single adults across Hertfordshire, Watford included, will not let its members swipe. Instead the founder, Christopher, plans to read every profile and make each introduction personally, one at a time, for a single membership price of £9.99 a month.
Our Next Step is not open yet. What is open is a free waiting list, and Watford is one of the towns listed on its sign-up form. When we checked the site on 30 September, it said “95+ Hertfordshire singles have already joined”. When Christopher first wrote to us on 11 September, the figure was 20.
Christopher is an IT manager who is building the site alongside the day job. The founder wrote to us about taking on “a completely new project in my fifties” after returning to dating later in life, and answered our questions in writing.
Why build another dating site
“I’ve used a lot of different dating sites myself over the years,” Christopher told us, “partly during the times I’ve been single, but also more recently as research, to genuinely work out whether Hertfordshire (and beyond) needed yet another dating app.
“What struck me is how many of them are essentially copy-and-paste versions of each other: same imagery, same way of operating. And every single one I tried had the same two problems: swiping and fake profiles. That’s really where Our Next Step came from.”
Why start in Hertfordshire
“I’m based in Hatfield. We’re starting in Hertfordshire rather than going national because that’s genuinely where I live and where I want to build this: a local, founder-led alternative rather than a national app pretending to be local.”
The waiting list began with three towns, St Albans, Harpenden and Wheathampstead. “The waiting list is now open to the whole of Hertfordshire,” Christopher said, “not just the original three towns we started with.”
What it will cost, and why it is not charging yet
Membership will be £9.99 a month at launch: “one fair price for everyone, no premium tiers or pay-to-win features.” The waiting list is free, and the site says no card is needed to join it.
There is no launch date. Christopher says that is deliberate:
“I could technically switch on payments right now and start charging £9.99 a month, but I won’t. The honest truth is we don’t yet have a big enough or balanced enough pool of people for that to actually work, and charging people before there’s a genuine chance of a good introduction wouldn’t be fair. That’s not something I’m willing to do just to bring in revenue early.
“So we’re holding off launch until the waiting list and profiles are strong enough to give people a real shot at meeting someone. I don’t have an exact date yet, but we’re getting close.”
How introductions will work
The part of the site where people create a profile is still being built. It is due to open to people on the waiting list before the site launches to everyone.
“Once we launch, I’ll personally review profiles and use people’s answers and preferences to make introductions myself: one at a time, not a browsable list. No swiping, no endless scrolling. It’s about quality over quantity, not speed.”
The site’s own page puts it this way: “The first may take a few weeks; that’s me being selective, not slow.”
Verification before payment
Every profile will need a verified email address and mobile number, a photo, and a selfie to compare against it. Christopher says the difference is in what happens to people who have not finished those checks:
“Most dating sites do something similar, but the difference is what they do with it. Most let you join and start using the site regardless, and just show other people your ‘verification level’ as a badge. Realistically, that’s how a lot of them pad their numbers with paying members: partially verified is still a paying member to them.
“On Our Next Step, nobody can become a paying member until every single verification step is complete. No exceptions, no partial access. If you haven’t fully verified, you’re not paying, full stop.”
Who is signing up
There is no set age range. The site is open to any single adult in Hertfordshire. “That said, given where I’ve been spreading the word so far, local community groups, local press, word of mouth, I’d guess the people signing up so far skew somewhere around 35 to 65, though that’s very much an impression rather than a strict target,” Christopher said.
“The one thing that really stands out is what people tell us when they join the waiting list: they’re fed up with swiping, and genuinely dismayed by just how many profiles turn out to be fake.”
Meet-ups, and the pace of one person
Local meet-ups are possible later, but not promised. “I’m very much open to changing, adding or refining site functionality if enough of the community wants it, and that could well include local meet-ups down the line,” Christopher said.
“But it’s worth remembering Our Next Step is run by one person, not a company with a marketing department and a product team behind it, so things happen at the pace one person can realistically manage, rather than all at once. I’d rather get things right and build them properly than rush something out because a big company could.”
The founder has also said they will be a member of the site themselves.
How to join from Watford
- The waiting list is on the Our Next Step website: first name, email address and where you are based. Watford is on the list of towns.
- It is free, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
- People on the list will be invited to create a profile before launch. Membership will then cost £9.99 a month, and only once every verification step is complete.
Christopher’s closing point was about numbers: “The bigger and more balanced the waiting list gets, the better a chance everyone on it has of actually meeting someone right for them. This only really works if enough people sign up, so if anyone reading this is on the fence, joining isn’t just good for them, it helps everyone else on the list too.”
Sponsored feature for Our Next Step.
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