Age: Lord Paul, 68yrs.
'Foolish' Idea: Manufacturing steel products
Start-up Capital: £5,000 loan.
How Idea was Launched:
1969, Lord Paul began the production of steel pipes at a factory in Huntingdon. He launched the Caparo Group and has since invested heavily in modernisation and won new markets.
He has also taken the unions along with him in Britain and America.
Despite this, the steel industry had a difficult time world-wide (1998) and so the profits were poorly affected.
Earnings: By 1997 Caparo was making £23.9million profit on sales of £514.8million. Caparo was valued at £325million (1998).