UNW LLP : Calysta making waves in the aquaculture industry

28th September 2017

With an array of innovative concepts and ideas, Calysta Inc. continues to shape the future of nutrition with the help of UNW.

The biotechnology company, which was founded in 2011, develops and produces proteins for commercial aquaculture and livestock feed, provides nutritional feeds and animal health products for fish and livestock, and offers chemicals used in end products such as fibres, plastics and building materials.

The USA parent Calysta Inc. was formally known as Calysta Energy until May 2014, and has headquarters in Menlo Park, California. A 37-acre feed production plant in Memphis, Tennessee is also currently under construction, where Calysta Inc. will produce their FeedKind™ protein; a natural, safe and sustainable fish and livestock feed ingredient. It is a non-animal, non-vegetable protein to fill the growing world demand.

As part of their international expansion plans, Calysta now also operate from sites in the UK and Singapore. It was when securing funding for their UK base in December 2015 that Calysta first came to work with UNW.

The UNW corporate finance team's experience in the grants field led to an introduction to the company, and the team supported Calysta's management throughout the grant appraisal process, for which they received an award of £2.8 million from the Exceptional Regional Growth Fund (eRGF). The funding paved the way to develop the R&D and market introduction facility located at The Wilton Centre Teesside, which has enabled Calysta to commercialise the FeedKind™ product, and develop technology for further products.

The project will either safeguard or create 39 science, research and engineering jobs in the region.

With funding secured and work on the Redcar facility underway, Calysta were also looking for assistance with the entire financial set-up of their UK subsidiary, and consolidated their working relationship with UNW by choosing them to carry out their outsourced accounting and tax requirements.

Graham Aylen, Managing Director at Calysta UK Limited, said: 'The support we received from UNW throughout the grant appraisal process was fantastic, so when the time came that we needed help with every aspect of our financial operations, we didn't hesitate in choosing them. The wide range of business advisory services UNW provides means we can access all the expertise we require from the same trusted advisor.

'They do everything for us, from payroll and completion of annual accounts, to tax compliance and help with our Research and Development (R&D) claim. We have found UNW to be professional and flexible at all times, and they represent superb value for the services we receive.'

Calysta receive a fully outsourced accounting service from UNW, with a key benefit to the arrangement being cloud accounting tool Xero, which ensures Calysta representatives in the US always have access to their UK financials.

Hazel Smith, Accounting Services Partner at UNW, said: 'Our outsourced accounting offering is tailored specifically to the needs of the individual client, and with Calysta newly established in the UK, they receive all aspects of this service.

'We work closely with their finance team in the US, enabling them to provide their investors with the UK and group consolidated figures. By providing them with all the services they require across our departments, there is no need for Calysta to employ a specific finance team in the UK.

'We are delighted to have contributed to Calysta's successful transition to the UK, and look forward to our future working relationship with them.'