The Global 2025 Awards Categories
RLI Future Project

This award will celebrate excellence in a project that will challenge and inspire the future of retail and leisure and is a window into tomorrow’s world-class destinations. Please note full planning permission must have been granted to enter this category. Our panel will judge architectural excellence, innovation, imagination and dynamism as well as the positive impact that the development will have upon the local community. Please supply an outline of the original brief and the architect’s proposal to address this brief. Please also supply a synopsis of the development’s expected beneficial enhancement on community, locale and potential standing as a world-class destination.
RLI Most Anticipated Opening 2025

This category is looking for architectural excellence and a unique and innovative concept which will bring creativity and modernism to the local community that are eagerly awaiting the opening of this cutting edge development. Entries must be a NEW development that will open for the first time in 2025.
RLI Most Innovative Retail & Entertainment Project

This category will highlight those recently-opened retail & entertainment projects that people want to visit and return to. This award will be given to an individual scheme that can best demonstrate how it has used high quality design, sustainability and transformation to enhance a place. The judges will be looking at how the scheme has helped to generate sustained economic growth in a place or community, improving its physical and environmental quality and social wellbeing through the integration of retail, leisure & entertainment, arts, culture, sport and heritage.
*Projects in this category must have opened to the public in the period between 1 January 2024 and 21 March 2025.
RLI Most Innovative Retail
& Entertainment Concept

This category will be awarded to an individual retail & entertainment concept that since inception has displayed originality and exceptional performance, creating a concept that guests want to experience again and again. The judging panel will take into consideration the unique concept on offer and the innovative and experiential elements it offers its customers.
RLI International Retail
& Leisure Destination

This category celebrates a new destination which delivers an outstanding contribution to the global retail & leisure sector. It will reward a mixed-use destination that has created an extraordinary experience for guests and tenants alike, becoming a beacon that people from around the world aspire to visit.
*Projects in this category must have opened to the public in the period between 1 January 2024 and 21 March 2025.
RLI International Shopping
Centre - New Build

This award recognises the contribution made by a shopping centre that has reimagined the shopping experience by utilising innovation and creativity to stand out from the crowd. Judges will also be paying particular attention to high levels of service, diversity of offer and design excellence in creating an immersive and digital experience for all.
*Projects in this category must have opened to the public in the period between 1 January 2024 and 21 March 2025.
RLI International Shopping
Centre - Renovation

This award will be presented to a centre that demonstrates innovation in its renovation through architecture and design, how it has contributed to the overall regeneration of the town, city or area, its contribution to the local community and the steps it has taken to reimagine the shopping experience, whilst improving sustainability.
*Refurbished/extended projects in this category must have opened to the public in the period between 1 January 2024 and 21 March 2025.
RLI International Outlet Centre

This award celebrates the increased popularity of the outlet model with shoppers and developers alike in recent years. The aim of this category is to reward innovation and design-led excellence in a new scheme that offers both retailers and customers the very best in terms of brand and community cohesion.
*Projects in this category must have opened to the public in the period between 1 January 2024 and 21 March 2025.
RLI UK Retailer of the Year

This category will recognise and highlight a home-grown UK-based retailer that has made a significant mark in the industry through its growth, innovation and exceptional performance. Our judging panel will be assessing financial performance, portfolio growth and customer satisfaction.
RLI International Retailer of the Year

This award highlights the retailer that our judges believe to be a truly world-class operator across all facets of the business, delivering exceptional growth, adaptation and transformation of the brand to reflect evolving industry trends. With retailing becoming ever more complex and demanding, the judges will be looking for an innovative brand that meets the criteria with a clear development strategy for international expansion.
RLI Emerging Market Retailer

This award will be presented to an emerging market retailer that best represents the essential retail qualities of entrepreneurship, originality and flexibility. Our judges will be looking for a business that can demonstrate that they have a robust and growing retail format whilst examining the part it is playing in the development of the emerging economies.
RLI Sustainable Retailer of the Year

Sustainability is becoming a growing concern for consumers. This category will reward a retail or brand owner that has made a meaningful impact on the environment by understanding and addressing the challenges of sustainability; recognising the importance of social responsibility and providing goods that are ethically sourced and produced.
RLI Most Innovative F&B Concept

F&B services have become a vital element of any retail and leisure destination and they are transforming shopping centres, destinations and outlets into convivial lifestyle ventures. This award highlights the very best and innovative F&B concepts across the globe and our judging panel will be looking at the authenticity, quality and experience that each concept offers its customers.
RLI Most Immersive
Attraction & Experience

Immersive attractions and experiences are emerging as a strength of the retail and leisure industry and are key to invigorating shopping centres and destinations. In this category, judges are looking for an attraction or experience that completely immerses the customer in a unique and innovative way that stands out from the crowd whilst also engaging through technology.
RLI Developer of the Year

This award is designed to highlight the Developer which showcases their best new retail and leisure schemes recently completed, currently under construction and proposed to start, with an emphasis on diversity, innovation and of course, the ‘wow’ factor. Please ensure that submissions include a broad cross-section of your portfolio.
RLI Designer of the Year

This award is a tribute to the architectural practice that consistently and accurately delivers the value of a brand to both business and customers. Our judges will examine the design process, its objective and most importantly, the results. Please ensure that submissions include a portfolio of recently completed developments and a selection of ongoing projects in the retail and/or leisure sectors. For practices nominating their work, it is essential to obtain the approval of the client prior to submitting examples of their work.
RLI Contractor of the Year

Honouring an innovative and leading contractor that continues to go above and beyond, this award acknowledges and recognises the talent of an organisation that creates and implements immersive retail & leisure environments, transforming open spaces into experiential ones while providing efficient and effective turnkey solutions. The judges will be examining project portfolios, efficiency, repeat business and client satisfaction.
RLI Interior Excellence

This award recognises those companies who have implemented an imaginative, innovative and immersive environment which delivers a stand-out customer experience. The winner of this award will have reinvented the traditional meaning of a retail or leisure interior that enables operators to connect with their customers.
RLI Innovation in Technology Award

This award pays tribute to the rise of technology and the way it is being increasingly utilised in the retail and leisure real estate industry. Businesses can nominate their most outstanding digital innovation demonstrating how it was delivered, the difference it has made and its commercial success. The judges will be looking for technical excellence in creating an outstanding product or service that has the potential to revolutionise the industry creatively, innovatively and effectively whilst making a significant positive impact. Each entry will need to describe strategic objectives, execution and results.
RLI Visionary Leader of the Year

This award celebrates an individual whose innovative vision, strategic leadership and ground-breaking contributions have profoundly shaped the future of the global retail and leisure industries.
*The RLI Visionary Leader of the Year award is an RLI Choice category. While nominations are welcome and encouraged, the final recipient will be selected by the RLI team and a distinguished panel of judges based on their visionary leadership, innovation and transformative impact on the global retail and leisure industries.