The winners of the 2025 Solal Marketing Awards have been announced at a gala event at fashionable leisure venue Fabryka Norblina in Warsaw, Poland.
Several UK venues stood out in an intensely competitive line-up of innovative campaigns, with winning entries from as far afield as Canada and South Africa, as well as mainland Europe.
British finalists included the rebranding of Luton Point, and placemaking and tactical activations at Fosse Park. Promotional campaigns at Caledonia Park Designer Outlet and Union Square in Aberdeen were also acknowledged.
Churchill Square Brighton claimed a Silver Award for its “Tackling Food Waste” campaign while London Designer Outlet was awarded another silver for their “Walking the Talk” Women’s Aid initiative. The Lexicon in Bracknell also scored a silver win for its stand-out “Forest Giants” campaign. The top UK award went to Centrale & Whitgift for its impressive “Costa Del Croydon” installation which built enduring community links and transformed a vacant car-park roof space during the summer.
The live event was the first European celebration of the most effective and innovative marketing campaigns in the shopping centre industry since the pandemic.
Thirteen gold awards were announced. Other major winners included Apsys Polska with an impressive haul of bronze, silver and gold awards across centres including Manufaktura, Posnania and Galeria Katowicka. South African malls proved to be at the top of their game with eight awards, with Gateway, Theatre of Shopping and Sandton gaining multiple trophies.
The ‘Best of the Best’ winner – with the top score across 20 global judges – was awarded to a small-scale project in Portugal – ‘Silent Hour’ at Alegro Setubal where the entire centre was transformed to cater for SEND customers. This also scooped the award for innovation, and best use of a small budget.
Probably the most emotional moment was the announcement of a special “Inspiration” Award for Nikolsky – Budhouse’s new development in Kharkiv, Ukraine, which launched on the eve of the Russian invasion, only to be hit in a targeted missile attack. Solal Ambassador Chris Igwe highlighted how one of the most moving moments in the earlier Solal Marketing Conference was when marketing director, Dmytro Bushmakin’s video presentation was met with shock and stunned silence by the industry audience. “Without a doubt this was the most moving and powerful moment of the successful Solal Awards Marketing Conference in Warsaw,” he said.
The marketing conference and gala marks the first live event for the newly-relaunched Solal Awards.
Agnieszka Tomczak-Tuzińska, marketing director at Apsys Polska, said: “The Solal Awards and the conference are not just about recognising great work – they’re an incredible opportunity to exchange experiences, understand the specifics of different markets, and take inspiration from outstanding practices across the world. But just as importantly, it’s about real-life connection – meeting face-to-face, building new relationships and expanding our horizons beyond our daily work. That mix of knowledge-sharing and genuine human connection is what makes the Solal Awards truly special.”
Solal Chair and MD of AL Marketing Alan Thornton, added: “After the event’s success we want to keep up the momentum so our attention is now turning to the 2026 awards and how we can make the Solals even bigger and better.”
