"Married dating" classes promise to drag you and your partner back to the days when you were tearing each other"s clothes off and conversation consisted of more than "good night" at the end of each day.
Married dating classes attempt to school you back into being old romantics by using techniques including individual discussions with a consultant, tips on how to flirt with your partner again, how to dress to impress and how to surprise your partner like you used to.
"When you"re dating, everything is new and exciting," says Elect Club"s Haley Hill, who organises couples" classes. "But when a level of security is reached, we tend to slip into our comfort zone and that initial desire we felt for each other disappears."
The rise of married dating classes comes on the back of new research which states many couples are unable to divorce because of financial restraints.
According to the study by divorce firm Law Options, 60 per cent of married people are too scared to get a divorce because of the cost and more than a third would never leave their partner because of loans and shared mortgages.
For those who find time a problem, some class organisers such as Asian Dinner Club will not only send you out to dinner after your flirt class but will find a babysitter, book you a table and even get someone to vacuum while you are out so your boudoir is ready for romance when you return.
"The hardest part is actually getting people out of the house," says director Salima Manji, whose service will organise surprise "dates" throughout a six-month period and introduce them to other married couples at networking nights.
"During that time we will help you plan any important dates like birthdays and anniversaries and get your confidence back," she says. "Also, by introducing you to other married couples you take the burden of conversation off each other – we encourage you to make new friends and spend a little time apart."
Doctor Manoj Mistry, 35, and his wife, Sam, 34, from west London signed up for the Asian Dinner Club"s married dating classes after routine and work pressures had meant they had started to take each other for granted.
"I went on a “blind date” – with my husband," says Sam. "This happened after the club had given us both a bit of a style makeover so we looked sexier. Just arriving separately made it seem exciting again, like in the days before being married when you never fully know how the night will turn out."
Manoj was less enthusiastic to begin with but was soon convinced.
"As a guy I feel the responsibility to think of romantic things to do, so it was good to have someone come up with cool places to go out in London and do the “man” part of sorting out all the bookings."
These classes are a much less serious alternative to relationship counselling, says Elect Club"s Haley Hill (pictured). In her "Passion Reviver Package" you meet a consultant as a couple, then on your own to find out what you feel is causing the relationship to stall. Then follows "tailored relationship consulting", including style and fitness advice. Fed up of his spare tyre? Has her nagging put an end to sex? Get the consultant to let each other know. The consultancy then books you a sexy weekend away.
If all else fails, you can always put a gun to their heads.
Hill says: "The most popular part of our service is the Spy School weekend – it"s hard to see your wife in the same way after you have watched her shoot a revolver and learn body combat. It provides sexy new experiences to talk about over a romantic dinner that night."
