Caparo boss Angad Paul dies after falling from London penthouse

Angad Paul, aged 45, ran global conglomerate Caparo Industries - founded by his father in 1968 - which is now on the brink of collapse amid the crisis wracking the steel industry.

He was pronounced dead after police were called to the family's suite of ten luxury apartments in Portland Place, London, at 11am yesterday.

His body was recovered by fire crews from a ledge at the rear of the exclusive block. He had suffered catastrophic injuries and his death is not being treated as suspicious.

Caparo went into administration last month, leading to the loss of 323 jobs in the Black Country as plants in Darlaston, Dudley and West Bromwich were shut down.

Plants in Cradley Heath and Oldbury also saw redundancies, while bases in Hartlepool and Wales also closed. A further 1,200 jobs still hang in the balance.

Mr Paul was the youngest of Lord Paul's three sons.He married 40-year-old lawyer Michelle Bonn in 2005 and lived in the apartment complex with his parents and 57-year-old twin brothers Ambar and Akash.

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 it was 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.