Press Office
Members of Soho Estates took part in the 5km Fun Run in support of LandAid on Wednesday 15th June 2011
The LandAid 5KM Fun Run has been going since 1986. This year, members of Soho Estates decided to take part in the run in support of LandAid.
LandAid is the property industry's charity and a leading charitable investment vehicle within the sector. It specifically focuses on the young and disadvantaged.
The event helps to raise money for homeless young people living in the North East of England. This year, the money raised has gone towards a 'Foundations for Life Centre' that will form part of a new cutting edge Centrepoint residential service for homeless young people between the ages of 16 and 21 in Sunderland.
Gary Worster, Nicholas Lawson, Laura Ingram, Paul Whalan, Fawn James and Philip Thompson.
A look back at Old Compton Street
'Soho' an Anglo-French hunting call, probably of purely exclamatory origin, is a small island in London’s West End, where for 300 years it has held sway, on and off, as the centre of social and creative life. Soho may not always be pleasant, but it is never dull.
- Old Compton Street named after Henry Compton, the Bishop of London, in 1676 has seen all colours of Soho’s vibrant transitions. In the 19th Century it was one of the city’s worst slums. Post WWII, it was a melting pot for immigrants of all nationalities.
- Round the corner in Frith Street, television was invented in 1924 by John Logie Baird.
- It was the Birth place of British pop music in the two I’s café and the centre of the British Film industry.
- For many years it was the centre of the sex trade and a host of associates to support this title.
Soho Estates have owned property in Old Compton Street since the early eighties and have assisted its change from a street of predominantly sex orientated business and drinking clubs to the vibrant mix you see today. The changes came slowly and started with the introduction of retail shops but these were quickly overtaken by coffee shops and restaurants. Old Compton Street became the place to hang out. We have encouraged this development and by also developing the upper parts into comfortable flats, have brought a new residential life to the area. We have worked with the conservation principles to re-configure buildings to enable them to have a new life; a good example being Soho House which was opened in 1995. We continue to manage the tenant profile although we tend to prefer owner occupiers to multiples and try to keep Soho as dynamic as it has always been.