The Islington Company has been recognised as a highly commended industry leader in the national Landlord and Letting Awards.

The team from The Islington Company scooped the runner up award for Letting Agent of the Year London at a prestigious gala dinner presented by television celebrity and landlord Sofie Allsop at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.

Vaida Filmanaviciute said: “Our team is very proud of this achievement and highly treasure such prestigious recognition of their great work over the past year”

Oliver Romain, editor of Landlord and Buy-to-Let magazine and lead judge for the Awards, commented: “The Landlord and Letting Awards are the letting industry Oscars and attract a lot of entries. Competition was particularly tough this year, however, the judges were really impressed with The Islington Company’s entry.”

“It’s a fantastic achievement for The Islington Company to be highly commended in the Letting Agent of the Year London category and a real pleasure for us to be able to reward their success.”

Trophies for the annual awards were presented at gala dinner held at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire, on Wednesday 28th November 2012.

The Islington Company is holding an art exhibition by the renowned artist Efrain Vidal, in support of the Margins Project at the Union Chapel. Twenty percent of the proceeds from the sale of each painting will go to the charity. There will also be a free drinks reception hosted by The Islington Company at our gallery space in Essex road, where we will be encouraging donations.

Margins is a small local project run by the Union Chapel in Islington. They run both an art group and a framing workshop. The project aims to provide a safe space for people who have been affected by homelessness and those often living on the margins of society.

The diverse groups are really close and engage in creative activities mostly painting, clay sculptures, film, photography. They also run a framing workshop run professional framer by Liz Walker, which allows local artists to attend and frame their work. These workshops encourage people from a variety of backgrounds to interact with one another.

One member, after a traumatic 8 months away, came back to the Art Group because it was a safe space.  He came back on a Tuesday afternoon, sat down with a cup a tea, started conversing about politics and began his work on a painting of ships. 

Another member comes to the art group regularly and mainly focuses on modeling clay figures.  He uses his art to work through mental instabilities that he experiences, but he also comes because it is a place where he feels protected.  The group makes sure that he is taken care of by making him lunch, giving ideas on what to create and providing him with a space in which to express his creativity.

The art and framing group operate as a studio instead of an instructed class.  This allows people to explore what makes sense for them at the time.  Art has a funny way of bringing together people of different backgrounds and different experiences and giving them a common language. The group can talk about darkening colors or known artists or ask someone’s opinion on a piece.  This language puts everyone on the same ground, creating an atmosphere where people are equal and comfortable around each other. 

Interacting with a range of different people these groups would not normally come into contact with, such as artists struggling to find work and those engaging in creative projects for therapeutic reasons normalizes their respective situations.

If pretentions are left aside, art has a wonderful ability to bring people together regardless of whether it is hanging at the Tate Modern, the Islington Company Studio, or the hallways of Union Chapel. 

Come and visit us at The Islington Company and enjoy the artwork in our brand new gallery space, all in support of a local charity.

At The Islington Company we have a great space we use for events. These events range from art exhibitions, meetings, small gatherings to large property events. Our facilities allow us to host a wide variety of events particularly surrounding property. 

This month we are hosting a private view in our brand new exhibition space for the widely celebrated Peruvian artist Efrain Vidal. After winning the First Prize at X National contest for young artists Southern Peru Corporation in 1995, he has been also selected to represent Peru in exhibitions in Indonesia, Brazil and Geneva. Since then his artwork has been exhibited all over the globe including in Paris, New York, Zurich and Miami.

Efrain’s paintings reveal the hidden aspects of human behaviour. His work attempts to show the real motive of personal and interpersonal relationships and actions. 

Due to the way he handles perspective, his use of strong, bright and vivid colours in the paintings actually have a very gentle effect on the obsever. Through his construction of space, which is so characteristic of his work, he manages to instil an existential, emotional and intimate feeling in the audience. 

The Islington Company is holding the exhibition in support of the Margins Project at the Union Chapel. Twenty percent of the proceeds from the sale of each painting will go to the charity. There will also be a free drinks reception where we will be encouraging donations.

Come and join us for a great evening of art, drinks and good conversation in our brand new gallery space, all in support of a local charity.