This morning I joined Mark Lloyd on a visit to meet with the owners of Alconbury, which was recently announced as our new Enterprise Zone.

The owners, Urban & Civic, were clearly excited about the EZ status for part of the massive former airbase. We had an interesting tour of the site and a chance to discuss a range of topics.

Clearly, Urban & Civic are committed to working with district and county councils and as importantly local people. I am excited about the potential for thousands of jobs and the willingness to accept apprenticeships as a significant part of that mix. We also discussed super fast broadband, involving local people and companies, marketing and transport. Clearly a forward thinking company.

To round off the visit I met up with an old pal of mine Andy Thayne, who is the RAF representative on the remaining USAF base. The good part was we promised to catch up soon, and we have known each other for 30 years, the bad part was the Andy and Mark also agreed to catch up on my past!!!