In the business lingo, it's a popular saying that people buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. And Lord Raj Kumar Bagri is one such person whose vision and credibility both sale like hot cakes in the world of business. "From being an apprentice in a metal company to being the first Indian to head the London Metal Exchange to being conferred the title of baron, Lord Raj Kumar Bagri's life is a story of hard work, determination and a never-say-die attitude. Born in Kolkata in 1930, he was introduced to metals trading when he was just 15.

He joined the Binani Metals Group as an apprentice in 1945. It was a tough life, working 14-hour shifts. From 1954 to 1959, he travelled to various mines, smelters, refineries, and fabrication plants the world over, thereby mastering the intricacies of metal trading. His was not such a smooth journey. As a 24-year-old apprentice, he was sent to the UK in search of business for his employers but he failed to make any headway because everybody was too busy to see him! In 1959, he shifted base to London and started Metal Distributors UK (Metdist). In 1970, Lord Bagri became a member subscriber of London Metal Exchange (LME) - a highly successful and pre-eminent exchange in the world of non-ferrous metals.

That, according to him was a major step in furthering his business. His hard work and knowledge of the industry saw him being appointed as a member of the management committee of the LME. For a person like Bagri's caliber, it was not too long when he was appointed to the board of directors of the LME. Three years later, he became the vice-chairman of the LME board of directors and in 1993; he took over as the chairman of the exchange, thus becoming the first Indian to be elected as the chairman of the exchange.

Since then, he has taken many path-breaking steps to keep LME as a premier metal exchange in the world. Among his extraordinary achievements was his deft handling of a major crisis in 1995. The tin industry was shaken up when a Japanese firm lost $2.6 billion because of a rogue trader. Lord Bagri's reputation was on the block but he emerged unscathed. Since then he gained in stature, having prevented LME's archrival, the New York Mercantile Exchange, from outperforming the traditional metal exchange.

Today, the Metdist Group under Bagri has extensive trading and manufacturing interests in non-ferrous metals. It has substantial investments in the manufacturing of rod and wire products. It also has a state of the art integrated plant for the production of copper tubes for the air conditioning industry. Currently, the Metdist Group's turnover is reckoned to be around £2 billion. In India too, Bagri has made his presence loud and clear. Together with Usha Martin Ventures, Metdist group holds 15-20 per cent equity stake in Ma Foi Management Consultant. The group also has interests in Metrod, a leading manufacturer of oxygen-free high conductivity copper products. Although Bagri relinquished the chairmanship of the LME in 2003, his Metdist Limited and Metdist Trading Limited are still trading in the LME.

Acknowledging his services for furthering LME's position and to the metals manufacturing industry, Bagri was conferred the CBE by the Queen. And in 1997, he was made Baron Bagri of Regent's Park in the City of Westminster, for life. A political activist, Lord Bagri is also a member of the Conservative Party (Tories). The low profile Lord Bagri runs his huge Empire with the help of his devout wife, Usha, and 38-year-old son Apurv, who is now the managing director of the group. His only daughter, Amita, is married to industrialist Chandrakant Birla. But then never forget - he is the main trunk of the family tree around whom businesses and empires have been built over the years.