Croydon will be named one of the best retailing town centres in Britain when the latest retail rankings are revealed next month.

Croydon has provisionally moved up four places from 15th to 11th in the UK retail rankings, compiled by Gerald Eve, thanks to the recent arrivals of Centrale and House of Fraser.

Gerald Eve's Michael Moran last week gave a retail reception at the Future of Croydon exhibition, a sneak preview of Croydon's performance, even though the survey is not published until the end of October.

Croydon's rise to 11th makes it the leading UK town centre for retailing, with city centres making up the top 10. The rankings are based on the quality and quantity of the retail offer, including other factors like public transport.

Mr Moran said: "The actual rise in the ranking is due to Centrale and House of Fraser opening, which was a big boost.

"The centres above Croydon are main regional city centres, so by some margin, Croydon has the best retail offer of any town centre in the UK."

That contrasts with the last rankings produced by Experian in March before Centrale opened, which placed Croydon 27th nationally, below centres like Bromley, Kingston and Guildford.

Interestingly, Gerald Eve's projections for 2012 predict Croydon could fall back to 15th as new developments in places like Norwich take effect.

But Mr Moran added: "When the new developments like Park Place and Gateway are completed, Croydon should rise into the top 10."

Provisional Retail Rankings 2004
1 Glasgow
2 Birmingham
3 Manchester
4 Newcastle
5 Nottingham
6 Leeds
7 Edinburgh
8 Cardiff
9 Southampton
10 Liverpool
11 CROYDON
12 Reading
13 Leicester
14 Aberdeen
15 Norwich
16 Guildford
17 Belfast
18 Sheffield
19 Bromley
20 Chester