A Partnership Agreement supporting the Huntingdonshire Defence Cluster and Project FAIRFAX has been significantly strengthened, with Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, master developer Urban&Civic, and Newlands Developments formally joining Huntingdonshire District Council and the Ministry of Defence as signatories at UKREiiF in Leeds.

The agreement builds on the Statement of Intent signed between Huntingdonshire District Council and the MoD in December 2024, and marks the transition from shared ambition to active, multi-partner delivery.

For the defence supply chain, the cluster’s proposition is grounded in genuine strategic assets. The initiative centres on RAF Wyton, RAF Alconbury, and RAF Molesworth, three installations that form the core of the district’s existing defence footprint and provide the foundation for a defence, intelligence, geospatial technologies, and advanced manufacturing ecosystem with national significance.

The entry of Urban&Civic and Newlands Developments brings immediate practical capacity to the cluster. Urban&Civic’s Alconbury Weald Enterprise Campus, built on the former RAF Alconbury site, offers R&D and office space available now, with bespoke turn-key buildings deliverable within 12 months. Newlands Developments is progressing a new industrial and logistics development at Newlands Park, Huntingdon, directly within the North Huntingdon Opportunity Zone the cluster anchors.

That combination, established defence infrastructure, committed master developers, combined authority backing, and MoD partnership, makes Huntingdonshire one of the more credible emerging defence cluster locations in England. Rob Bridge, Chief Executive of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, was direct about its economic ambition: “Project FAIRFAX will deliver real benefits for local people and supports our ambition to triple the size of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough economy.”

For supply chain businesses looking to locate within or close to a growing defence cluster, the North Huntingdon Opportunity Zone offers employment space, enterprise zone incentives, and proximity to active MoD sites. The pace of development is now backed by a formal partnership with the development infrastructure to deliver at scale.

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