Berkeley International, for the “elite and discerning”, says its 5,000 members include “billionaire” chief executives of FTSE 100 companies, leaders in technology, law, finance and media, as well as A-list actors, television presenters and entrepreneurs, who pay fees starting at £10,000 a year. Whether billionaire or celebrity, requests for European memberships from UK clients have soared by 40 per cent since Article 50 was triggered in late March. US clients appear even keener to escape domestic politics. Mairead Molloy, Berkeley founder and relationship psychologist, says the numbers are a sign that “people won’t let Brexit stop love”. “A similar reaction was seen in the month following the election of President Trump, with requests for international memberships for US members increasing by 45 per cent,” she says. Charlotte, who did not wish her surname to be published, signed up to Berkeley five months ago. The 37-year-old Brit says she has grown up feeling European and that she wants “European thinking” in a partner. “I hope to God it takes more than two years to untangle ourselves from the EU, but by then I may be in my relationship with my Mr Forever,” she says. Although she believes Berkeley would filter out any Brexit voters before suggesting them to her, discovering that her date had voted to leave would “probably” be a deal-breaker. “I’m far more politically aware than I ever have been,” she says.
