Credit: SaxaVord
By Greg Cameron,
Published by The Times, 8 April 2026
Shetland’s SaxaVord, which is mostly owned by the Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen, hopes to be the first UK space port to get a rocket into orbit
The Shetland space port owned by Scotland’s richest man has reported a £5.4 million loss.
The SaxaVord site is part of the business empire controlled by Anders Holch Povlsen, the billionaire Dane who is one of Scotland’s biggest landowners.
Annual accounts for Shetland Space Centre, the SaxaVord operating company, show a near 32 per cent rise in revenue to £2.5 million for 2024.
The document, recently lodged at Companies House, shows a £5.4 million pre-tax loss, compared to £5.1 million in 2023.
SaxaVord is housed on the site of a former RAF base on the island of Unst in Shetland.
Directors of the site hope it will be the first in the UK to get a rocket into orbit although the dates for that have continually been pushed back.
Only one of three proposed launchpads is occupied and built. The accounts note there is an expectation of multiple launches in 2026.
The directors said: “As the group is in the build phase of its business plan it has incurred cumulative losses to date.”
The business is also going through a capital raising exercise which it plans to complete in the middle of this year.
That is expected to allow it to build the remaining infrastructure required as well as covering operating expenses until more revenue comes through.
The directors said: “The group is in negotiations with several launch service providers to secure commercial contracts for the second and third launchpads that will be built under our future capital expenditure programme.
“The directors can confirm we are now ready for launch. The space port is fully functioning and our clients have booked launch slots for both orbital and sub-orbital launches during 2026.”
The Scottish rocket developer Orbex went into administration earlier this year in spite of substantial backing from the UK government and Scottish National Investment Bank.
It had planned to launch rockets from SaxaVord, having paused its own plans to develop a rival space port in Sutherland.
Holch Povlsen has a majority stake in Shetland Space Centre which is held through Wildland, his main Scottish business.
The most recent accounts for Wildland, covering the 12 months to July 2025, recorded a £12.1 million impairment charge against the value of the space business because of cashflow uncertainty and the operating losses of the venture.
That contributed to a £33.6 million pre-tax loss at Wildland, which incorporates Holch Povlsen’s Scottish interests in hospitality, estates and conservation.
Wildland also has interests in Incharvie Group, which produces alcohol-free spirits, Kabn, a maker of cabins, and North Coast 500, the marketing agency which promotes the road route.
Advertisement
His property business owns the Jenners department store building in Edinburgh which is being refurbished.
Holch Povlsen, 53, has been buying up estates in Scotland since paying £8 million for the 42,000-acre Glenfeshie in the Cairngorms in 2006.
He is committed to rewilding and now owns more than 220,000 acres, largely across the Highlands.
Several buildings on his estates have been revamped into upmarket getaways including Aldourie Castle on the banks of Loch Ness, the Lundies House hotel in Tongue and the Killiehuntly Farmhouse and Cottages near Kingussie.
Holch Povlsen runs the retail group Bestseller, founded by his father in 1975, which has brands such as Jack & Jones, Vero Moda and Selected Homme in its stable.
Advertisement
He is also the biggest shareholder in the online fashion firm Asos as well as having stakes in Zalando, another online retailer, and Swedish payments firm Klarna.
In sports he is the majority shareholder in the Danish football club Midtjylland.
See: Original Article
