The owner of the London Metal Exchange says the storied bourse’s transformation plans will create a marketplace akin to the stores run by US chain Home Depot, which has grown by serving both professional builders and consumers doing DIY.

Charles Li, chief executive of the Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing, which paid ￡1.2bn for the LME in 2012, said he was keen to listen to the exchange’s stakeholders and admitted being caught off guard last year by the level of discontent created by the exchange’s higher fees and declining trading volumes.

“It took us almost a year to sort that out,” Mr Li told the LME’s yearly Asia conference on Wednesday. “Last year I welcomed you all with open arms — I was very happy and ready to have a big party and I did not really know until the chairman’s reception last year, and I got an earful of issues that I didn’t really see coming.”