Poonam Gupta

Poonam Gupta OBE (born 1976) is an Indian entrepreneur, who emigrated to Scotland from India in 2002.

Poonam Gupta OBE
Personal details
Born	(1976-08-17) 17 August 1976 (age 47) New Delhi, India
Spouse	Puneet Gupta
Residence	Scotland
Occupation	Businesswoman
Known for	Founder of PG Paper Co., Ltd

Early life

She completed her early schooling years in Delhi at Lady Irwin School and Delhi Public School where she got admission on merit to complete her high schooling. She went on to complete an Honours Degree in Economics from Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi before gaining an MBA in International Business and Marketing at FORE School of Management, Delhi and Maastricht School of Management in Holland. In 2022, Gupta was awarded a Ph.D. in International Business and Marketing at Ecole Supérieure Robert de Sorbon. She arrived in the west of Scotland after marrying Puneet Gupta, a Belfast-born pharmacist of Indian descent. Together they have two daughters.^[1][2][3] During her second pregnancy, Gupta suffered from a rare form of bone tuberculosis which necessitated her using a wheelchair for 18 months.^[4][2]

Career

Poonam launched her first business PG Paper Company Ltd in 2003 from her family house in Kilmacolm, Scotland.

The business initially specialised in salvaging and reusing products that were often destined for landfill. PG Paper imports and exports goods from over 53 countries around the world and is considered to be the fastest growing paper companies in the United Kingdom.^[5][6]

Since 2015 the official headquarters were moved from the family home to the Custom House in Greenock, Scotland.^[7]

Gupta is now involved in several other business ventures including PG World, SAPP Holdings, SAPP International, SAPP Property, EnVisage Dental Health, Punav.

She has been recognised as one of the ‘100 Most Influential in UK-India Relations’ by India Inc Group.^[8]

 

2015 The official Headquarters of PG Paper Company Ltd. Custom House, Greenock, Scotland.

Philanthropy

Gupta's charitable contributions are focused on women's issues, underprivileged children, animal conservation, cancer, gender equality and helping young girls in India to get an education.^[1]

In 2015 and 2017, Gupta and her husband Puneet Gupta took part in a rickshaw race to raise funds for Elephant Family, a charity that was founded by the conservationist and Duchess of Cornwall's brother, the late Mark Shand to conserve the Asian elephants.^{[9][10][11][12][13]}

In 2017, Gupta formed Women's Business Mentoring organization which aims to help Scottish women become successful by providing mentoring schemes across the country.^[14]

She contributed to the Virat Kohli Foundation when she placed the winning bid on a painting donated to the cause by the artist Sacha Jafri.^[15][16][17]

In 2021, Gupta led an India Covid Appeal, providing and delivering over 3,000 oxygen concentrators throughout India during the country's deadly second Covid wave.^{[18][19][20][21]}

Awards, honours and appointments

Year	Awards/Honours/Appointments	Accomplishments
2022	Lay Member of the University Court - University Of Stirling^[22]	Appointment
2022	Inspiring Leader of the Year - Women’s Enterprise Scotland^[23]	Award
2020	Entrepreneurial Recognition award of the University of Dundee	Award
2019	Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 UK - Ernst & Young^[24]^[25]	Winner
2019	Entrepreneur of the Year for Scotland - Ernst & Young^[26]^[24]	Winner
2019	Scale up of the Year Award - Ernst & Young^[27]	Winner
2019	No.1 Magazine Amazing Business Achievement Award ^[28]	Winner
2019	Director, Merchants House of Glasgow	Appointment
2018	Director, Scottish Chambers of Commerce^[29]	Appointment
2018	Scotland Businesswoman of the Year^[30]^[31]^[32]	Winner
2017	CEMVO Ethnic Minority Impact Awards - Business Female Award	Winner
2017	100 Vibrant faces of British Economy^[33]	Honour
2017	Board member of Enterprise and Skill Strategic Board - Scottish Government.^[34]	Appointment
2017	Women Enterprise Scotland^[35]	Ambassador
2016	Officer of the Order of the British Empire^[36]^[37]^[38]^[39]	An honorary medal
2013	Deloitte Female Entrepreneur of the Year^[40]	Finalist
2011	Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year	Finalist
2009	Scottish Asian Businesswoman of the Year^[41]^[42]	Winner

References

1. Brocklehurst, Steven (25 April 2017). "The paper queen who refused to fold". BBC News. Retrieved 28 April 2017.
2. "Meet the husband and wife team behind £10m success". Asian Image. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
3. "From preparing to die to building a £20m global commodities group". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
4. "From preparing to die to building a £20m global commodities group". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
5. Insider, Business (19 June 2017). "Insider regional review: Inverclyde". businessInsider. Retrieved 14 July 2017. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
6. "PG Paper closes in on international deals". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
7. "PG Paper moves to Greenock's Custom House". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
8. UK-India 100: Most Influential People in UK-India Relations: Celebrating Women (PDF). PWC. p. 18. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
9. "Asian entrepreneurs help raise funds for Action For Children - Ethnic Now". www.ethnicnow.com. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
10. "PG Paper Team Up With Action For Children - Ethnic Now". www.ethnicnow.com. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
11. "Inverclyde firm's charity fundraiser was a knockout success". Greenock Telegraph. Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
12. Francis, Jo. "Honours For Notable Industry Women". Print Week. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
13. "Scots couple survive near misses in jungle on way to winning charity rickshaw race". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
14. Gates, Philip (1 June 2017). "Scotland's top female executives back new Women's Business Mentoring initiative". businessInsider. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
15. "Virat Kohli painting goes for impressive 23.7 crore rupees in charity auction". hindustantimes.com/. 13 June 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
16. Rebello, Maleeva (4 July 2017). "The CEO, who paid £2.9 mn for Virat Kohli painting, says cricket is like running a business". The Economic Times. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
17. "Virat Kohli Painting Bought For 290 Thousand GBP". Retrieved 13 July 2017.
18. "Scots firm in life-saving mercy response to send Covid oxygen aid to India". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
19. HindiPath (8 June 2021). "जितना पाया, उससे ज़्यादा स्वदेश को लौटाया जाए : पूनम गुप्ता". हिंदी पथ. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
20. "Greenock firm sends oxygen machines to India amid coronavirus crisis". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
21. "LIFE-Saving Effort By Greenock Company To Help With India's Covid Oxygen Crisis". Inverclyde Now. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
22. "Poonam Gupta | About". University of Stirling. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
23. "Women's Enterprise Scotland Awards winners unveiled - with Nicola Sturgeon praising event's fostering of female leaders". www.scotsman.com. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
24. Symon, Ken (8 November 2019). "Two Scottish businesses win at UK-wide entrepreneur awards". businessInsider. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
25. "Scottish leaders win duo of titles at EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
26. "PG Paper boss Gupta named Scotland's top entrepreneur". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
27. Symon, Ken (14 June 2019). "Entrepreneur of the year is named". businessInsider. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
28. McEachern, Megan. "No. 1 Magazine Amazing Women Awards - The Winners". Sunday Post. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
29. "SCC Board | Welcome to the Scottish Chambers of Commerce website". www.scottishchambers.org.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
30. Kemp, Kenny (5 November 2018). "Business Women Scotland and Women's Enterprise Scotland Awards winners revealed". businessInsider. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
31. "Head of a Greenock-based company has been crowned Scotland's top female entrepreneur". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
32. "Business Women Scotland and WES Scotland Awards 2018 Winners | Business Women Scotland | BWS magazine | Business network events". bwsltd.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2018.
33. "Poonam Gupta OBE - Faces of a Vibrant Economy - Grant Thornton". Faces of a Vibrant Economy - Grant Thornton. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
34. "Enterprise and Skills Strategic Board: members' biographies - gov.scot". beta.gov.scot. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
35. "Women's Business Mentoring | Home". Women's Business Mentoring | Home. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
36. "New Year's Honours list 2017 - Publications - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
37. "Inverclyde businesswoman's delight at OBE honour". Greenock Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
38. "Queen's New Year Honours list 2017". Scottish Government News. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
39. Glaze, Ben (31 December 2016). "Revealed, the New Year's Honours 2017 in full". mirror. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
40. michael (12 May 2013). "Aberdeen represented well in The Scottish Business Awards, Scotland's biggest business awards event". SBNN. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
41. "Meet the husband and wife team behind £10m success". Asian Image. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
42. "Welcome to The Scottish Asian Business Awards". www.theasianbusinessawards.info. Retrieved 7 February 2017.