Developers are to fast track construction work on Aviemore’s new £10 million retail park to ensure the first tenants have their new stores up and running for the festive season.

Aldi and Home Bargains have taken two of three retail units under construction on the Aviemore Retail Park site, brining over 100 long-term retail jobs to the town.

The £5m construction contract has gone to Muir Construction of Inverkeithing and will create around 40 jobs during this year’s construction phase, many of which will be filled locally.

Bryan Wilson, development director with London & Scottish Investments (L&SI), who are developing the former Tesco site, said: “We always aim to ensure our tenants can open their doors as quickly as possible.

“But obviously Christmas is a key trading period for any retailer and their customers so we are pulling out all the stops to ensure Aviemore Retail Park is open for business in time for the festive rush.

“We will fast track work on the units themselves, so we can give our tenants time to fit out their premises, while we finish off some of the eternal parts of the development like the 333 parking spaces and the landscaping.”

L&SI has also submitted a further planning application for four small retail units at the site each of 1,500 square ft.