World leading biotech company expands at Teesside’s Wilton Centre

Calysta President and CEO Alan Shaw at Calysta's production facility for FeedKind® protein at the Wilton Centre.

A world leading biotech company has expanded its facilities at the Wilton Centre, Teesside’s premier science and business park, only a year after first moving in.

US company Calysta which has developed a new naturally produced fish and animal feed ingredient, called FeedKind® protein, has leased an additional 2,400 sq ft of office, laboratory and storage space, in addition to the two laboratories, seven offices and the production plant it took in December 2016 on a ten year lease. The new space takes Calysta’s total occupancy at the Wilton Centre to more than 29,000 sq ft, where it employs 15 people.

Calysta’s expansion comes soon after winning a prestigious global prize for the design, construction and successful launch of its new market introduction production facility for FeedKind® protein at the Wilton Centre. Calysta and partners, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), also based at the Wilton Centre, and Otto Simon Ltd were awarded the 2017 Institution of Chemical Engineers’ Global Team Award for excellence in November 2017, beating more than 140 entries from 21 countries.

Graham Aylen, MD Calysta UK says: “The Wilton Centre provides Calysta with utilities and infrastructure on a shared resource basis enabling the company to focus on its core activities. This, coupled with the benefits of being part of a process industry cluster convinced us to choose the Wilton Centre in the first place and now to expand there.”

“We are delighted that Calysta has committed to more space at the Wilton Centre for its world-beating, highly innovative process,” says Steve Duffield, Site Director at the Wilton Centre.

“It benefits, as do many of our tenants, from being located on the same complex as CPI and the process industry cluster led by NEPIC. Calysta’s success is a great example of what can be achieved by all the engineering and manufacturing expertise we have on Teesside.”

Calysta taking more space at the 75 acre science and business park follows hard on the heels of the CPI signing a new lease on its 47,000 sq ft of accommodation and the re-letting of 29,000 sq ft of office space to SABIC.

Earlier this year (2017) the Wilton Centre also signed new leases with international electrical safety training provider The Faraday Training Group for 40,000 sq ft of office and training space and with FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, a world leading developer and manufacturer of biologics-based medicines, for 15,000 sq ft of office and laboratory space.

Stephen Brown, Senior Partner at Middlesbrough-based Dodds Brown is the letting agent for the office space at the Wilton Centre. He says: “It’s not just the Wilton Centre’s unique combination of office, laboratory and process development space which attracts tenants, but its proximity to the Wilton International site, good road, rail, air and port links and clusters of similar organisations.”

Wilton Centre is a leading, privately-owned science and business park located in the heart of Teesside just five minutes’ drive from Middlesbrough. It provides a wide range of top quality office, laboratory and pilot plant accommodation at competitive rental terms with immediate occupancy. Set in a 75 acre landscaped site, it has its own lake and boasts 1,600 free car parking spaces.