My Life in Numbers: Mairi Prior CA

MY LIFE IN NUMBERS

Mairi Prior CA

Finance Director, SaxaVord Spaceport

Located on Unst, the northernmost inhabited island in the Shetland archipelago, SaxaVord Spaceport was founded in 2017. Mairi Prior CA explains how her training helps her manage the demands of a pioneering space business operating in one of the UK's most remote locations

Interview: Cris Andrews

3

I’ve been at SaxaVord Spaceport for three years. At the interview, everyone else was excited about the thought of working in the space industry. I was excited about that, but even more so about being in Shetland, where it’s based. My mum is from there, and when I was a kid I went there every year to stay with my grandparents. I still have relatives on the islands. I loved spending time there. Everyone on Shetland has a boat and you’d go out fishing – it was a different way of life, walking on the beach outside your granny’s house. Amazing.

3

I’ve been at SaxaVord Spaceport for three years. At the interview, everyone else was excited about the thought of working in the space industry. I was excited about that, but even more so about being in Shetland, where it’s based. My mum is from there, and when I was a kid I went there every year to stay with my grandparents. I still have relatives on the islands. I loved spending time there. Everyone on Shetland has a boat and you’d go out fishing – it was a different way of life, walking on the beach outside your granny’s house. Amazing.

14

I was 14 when I decided I wanted to be an accountant. I researched it and set my mind on being a member of ICAS. Dad ran his own business – operating quarries and providing plant hire and drainage services – and I started helping Mum with the bookkeeping. Maths was my favourite subject at school. I like that you get a definite answer with numbers.

14

I was 14 when I decided I wanted to be an accountant. I researched it and set my mind on being a member of ICAS. Dad ran his own business – operating quarries and providing plant hire and drainage services – and I started helping Mum with the bookkeeping. Maths was my favourite subject at school. I like that you get a definite answer with numbers.

1991

In 1991 I started at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen. It was the only university where you could study business rather than pure accounting and still gain the exemptions needed to enter ICAS training. I like to keep things a bit broader. In my gap year, I worked in industry at Northsound radio in Aberdeen, mainly scheduling the adverts. I had a great time.

1995

In 1995 I started my training with Saffery Champness [now Saffery] in Edinburgh. I always wanted to work in small- to medium-sized companies and Saffery specialises in landed estates. My first job was to analyse bank statements for the Duke of Fife. I had a family farming background, so it was interesting learning about landed estates.

20

After spending 20 years in practice, my first industry role was with Jasmine Holdings, working for entrepreneur Danny Cowie. The group had a number of small companies, all of which did different things – printing, engineering, PR, photocopiers, events and property. Each company had different needs, but a few months after I joined there was a big downturn in the oil price in Aberdeen. If you’ve never been in Aberdeen when the oil price goes down, it’s brutal. Each company was hit by a decline in sales at a different time, we had to work really hard to keep them afloat. It was here that I learned how to manage cash flow. We paid wages on time every month. It was not easy, but we did it.

20

After spending 20 years in practice, my first industry role was with Jasmine Holdings, working for entrepreneur Danny Cowie. The group had a number of small companies, all of which did different things – printing, engineering, PR, photocopiers, events and property. Each company had different needs, but a few months after I joined there was a big downturn in the oil price in Aberdeen. If you’ve never been in Aberdeen when the oil price goes down, it’s brutal. Each company was hit by a decline in sales at a different time, we had to work really hard to keep them afloat. It was here that I learned how to manage cash flow. We paid wages on time every month. It was not easy, but we did it.

53

I was volunteer county treasurer for Girlguiding Kincardine and Deeside for five years. There are 53 Girlguiding units, and I had to make sure they had all filed their accounts. This was a big task, as the units are run by volunteers, most of whom dislike paperwork and simply want to focus on running their groups.

53

I was volunteer county treasurer for Girlguiding Kincardine and Deeside for five years. There are 53 Girlguiding units, and I had to make sure they had all filed their accounts. This was a big task, as the units are run by volunteers, most of whom dislike paperwork and simply want to focus on running their groups.

2024

In August 2024, our customer carried out an engine test at SaxaVord. There was an anomaly and fire destroyed the launch vehicle stage and its engines. Two years later, our customer is almost ready to attempt a test launch. Getting our tracking and telemetry and flight-termination system installed last year was a big milestone. If the launch vehicle goes off course, one of the team has the ‘magic button’ to terminate the flight.

2026

In April this year, I visited Shetland and signed my name on the launch vehicle for when it heads up into space. Even with no engines attached, it was like, “Wow, we’ve enabled this to happen.”

I enjoy working in small companies where you can get involved in decision making. If you see something that isn’t working, you’re in a position to improve things.

2024

In August 2024, our customer carried out an engine test at SaxaVord. There was an anomaly and fire destroyed the launch vehicle stage and its engines. Two years later, our customer is almost ready to attempt a test launch. Getting our tracking and telemetry and flight-termination system installed last year was a big milestone. If the launch vehicle goes off course, one of the team has the ‘magic button’ to terminate the flight.

2026

In April this year, I visited Shetland and signed my name on the launch vehicle for when it heads up into space. Even with no engines attached, it was like, “Wow, we’ve enabled this to happen.”

I enjoy working in small companies where you can get involved in decision making. If you see something that isn’t working, you’re in a position to improve things.

0

Nobody in Europe has done this before so we couldn’t hire people with direct experience. We’ve taken people from across the UK and trained them. It’s amazing seeing our staff develop. A lot of them are ex-army, navy or air force. We are regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority, and spaceports are new for them too. They’re used to regulating airports, and we’re both interpreting the UK space regulations for the first time. We've worked together to understand how the regulations should be applied to operations at a spaceport.

305

It’s 305 miles to SaxaVord Spaceport from my office in Banchory. We set up there because it’s roughly halfway between where I live and where my predecessor as FD lived. We also have two IT staff based there. The company’s head office is in Grantown-on-Spey, 34 miles south of Inverness. To get to the spaceport from Banchory, you have to take three ferries, one from Aberdeen to Mainland Shetland, then another to Yell, and finally from there to Unst. We support the campaign to build tunnels between the islands in Shetland.

3

SaxaVord also owns the old RAF base on Unst, three miles from the spaceport. The spaceport was founded by Frank and Debbie Strang who purchased the base in 2006, after they read the Lambaness peninsula was the best place in the UK for a spaceport. Frank sadly passed away from cancer last year. The site is used as accommodation for our staff and customers. It takes a lot of engineers to launch a vehicle into space.

3

SaxaVord also owns the old RAF base on Unst, three miles from the spaceport. The spaceport was founded by Frank and Debbie Strang who purchased the base in 2006, after they read the Lambaness peninsula was the best place in the UK for a spaceport. Frank sadly passed away from cancer last year. The site is used as accommodation for our staff and customers. It takes a lot of engineers to launch a vehicle into space.

£60m

We need to raise £60m to finish the infrastructure to get more launch providers on site. Each customer’s launch vehicle is unique and requires its own launchpad. Demand to launch satellites into space has never been higher and Europe needs its own sovereign access to space. We’re very close to getting there, but we’re still expanding as a business. It’s my job to manage reporting and get new processes in place. It’s a privilege to be involved in something that no one has done before in the UK. We’re hoping that our first rocket launches will happen later this year.

4

I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in March after attending my first breast screening appointment, offered to women over 50. I had no symptoms so this was a huge shock. I’m responding well to treatment, and thanks to great support from SaxaVord and our fantastic finance team, alongside my amazing teenage daughters, I’m still working full time. My cancer can’t be cured, but going for a mammogram has extended my life. I advise all women to attend breast screening when invited.

2008

Music is a big thing in my life. My dad, Geordie Murison, is a well-known traditional Scottish folk singer, and in 2008 he won the Elgin Rotary Club’s Champion of Champions Bothy Ballad competition – for which he won this ‘brose caup’.

He started singing in public after I left home and moved to Edinburgh, but I was brought up in a house of music. In his thirties, Dad decided to learn the fiddle. We’d wake up at 6am to hear him scraping away on it until he got quite good. I played the piano and accordion.

2008

Music is a big thing in my life. My dad, Geordie Murison, is a well-known traditional Scottish folk singer, and in 2008 he won the Elgin Rotary Club’s Champion of Champions Bothy Ballad competition – for which he won this ‘brose caup’.

He started singing in public after I left home and moved to Edinburgh, but I was brought up in a house of music. In his thirties, Dad decided to learn the fiddle. We’d wake up at 6am to hear him scraping away on it until he got quite good. I played the piano and accordion.

21

I met my husband when I was 21, and he introduced me to bluegrass music. That was when I took up the double bass. I play it at festivals and sessions and I’ve met my closest friends through this. It’s a great community where the stars will often join in with everyone else. Many years ago I played in a pub in Edinburgh alongside Peter Rowan, now a member of the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

saxavord.com

Mairi Prior CA

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