The couple who founded Friends Reunited, the successful school nostalgia website, have decided to give up control of the venture and are considering offers which will turn them into multimillionaires.

Steve and Julie Pankhurst, who started Friends Reunited from their home in north London, said they have taken the website as far as they can.

They are now pondering offers of more than £30m from big internet firms keen to buy their database of 6.7 million email addresses. They are also considering issuing shares to lure an experienced management team to run the business.

The couple, along with co-founder Jason Porter, have called in business consultancy BDO Stoy Hayward for advice.

Rob Mogford, a director of BDO Stoy Hayward, said: "Their feeling is that the size of it is getting beyond what they, as individuals, are capable of handling. Their backgrounds are in IT. They haven't been through the traditional management path."

Possible buyers are thought to include internet service providers and dating agencies, which want to exploit the romantic side of the venture.

Friends Reunited invites members of the public to sign up with their old school and post an update on their lives - so far, more than 6 million have signed up. Anyone who wants to make contact with an old acquaintance can then pay £5 for their email address.

Although only a tiny fraction of subscribers paid, the venture is profitable. It employs 15 people, who run it from offices in London and have established spin-offs such as Workplace Reunited and a geneaology site, Genesconnected.com.

The site's inspiration came from Mrs Pankhurst, who became pregnant three years ago and began wondering how many of her schoolfriends had children. Her husband and Mr Porter then designed the site, of which the trio still own 85%.