Steel company boss dies in plunge from London penthouse flat

Updated
Angad Paul
Angad Paul

The boss of a steel company on the brink of collapse has died after plunging from his penthouse flat.

Angad Paul, 45, was pronounced dead at the scene after falling from the flat in central London yesterday morning.

It comes as large-scale job cuts have been announced at his steel company Caparo as administrators PwC try to salvage the company.

Some 450 redundancies at the firm were announced last month in what trade unions described as a "devastating" blow to the British steel industry, while the future of another 1,200 jobs is uncertain.

The Met Police said they are not treating the death as suspicious.

Friends of Mr Paul told of their sadness at his apparent suicide.

Indian entrepreneur and columnist Suhel Seth said on Twitter: "Deeply saddened to learn of the suicide of Angad Paul in London. He was young and bright.

"Deepest condolences to Lord Swraj Paul and family."

Mr Paul's father Lord Paul, who was born in the Indian town of Jalandhar, founded the business in 1968 with a £5,000 loan.

Last year the Birmingham Post reported that Lord Paul's family was worth an estimated £2 billion.

His company has an annual turnover of more than 1.5 billion US dollars (around £1bn) and has interests in hotels, interior design, and financial services as well as steel, according to its website.

But Caparo called in administrators last month after the collapse in steel prices and strong pound left the business struggling.

A Met Police spokeswoman said officers were called to Portland Place just after 11am yesterday morning.

She said: "London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance both attended and the man, believed to be in his mid-40s, was pronounced dead at the scene.

"London Fire Brigade have also been called to the scene to assist with the recovery of the body.

"The man's next of kin has been informed, although we still await formal identification.

"Enquiries into the circumstances of the incident continue but it is being treated as non-suspicious at this stage."

Lord Paul passed ownership of Caparo to his son in 1996.

Mr Paul was involved in a number of business ventures, and was listed as the executive producer on many of Guy Ritchie's films including Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch.

He was also behind the Caparo T1, which was the world's fastest supercar when it was launched in 2006.

It costs hundreds of thousands of pounds to buy and was developed by former McLaren F1 engineers.

Mr Paul, who had a degree in economics from MIT, married media lawyer Michelle Bonn in a ceremony at London Zoo in 2004.

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