Poonam Gupta

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

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

Early life

She completed her early schooling years in Delhi at

Lady Irwin School Lady Irwin School for Girls is an educational institution in New Delhi, India, established in 1927. It is a composite English medium school from class I to class XII affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi. It ...

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 Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) is a constituent college of the University of Delhi. Founded in 1926 by industrialist Lala Shri Ram, it is widely regarded as the most prestigious college for commerce and economics in India. SRCC was ranke ...

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. During her second pregnancy, Gupta suffered from a rare form of bone tuberculosis which necessitated her using a wheelchair for 18 months.

Career

Poonam launched her first business PG Paper Company Ltd in 2003 from her family house in

Kilmacolm Kilmacolm () is a village and civil parish in the Inverclyde council area, and the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies on the northern slope of the Gryffe Valley, southeast of Greenock and aroun ...

, 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. In 2015, the official headquarters were moved from the family home to the Custom House in Greenock, Scotland. Gupta is now involved in several other business ventures including PG World, SAPP Holdings, SAPP International, SAPP Property, EnVisage Dental Health and Punav. She has been recognised as one of the ‘100 Most Influential in UK-India Relations’ by India Inc. Group. PG Paper Headquarters

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. In 2015 and 2017, Gupta and her husband Puneet Gupta took part in a rickshaw race to raise funds for

Elephant Family Elephant Family is an international NGO dedicated to protecting the Asian elephant from extinction in the wild. In the last fifty years their population has roughly halved and 90% of their habitat has disappeared. Poaching, a growing skin tra ...

, a charity that was founded by the conservationist and Duchess of Cornwall's brother, the late

Mark Shand Mark Roland Shand (28 June 1951 – 23 April 2014) was a British travel writer and conservationist and the brother of Queen Camilla. Shand was the author of four travel books and as a BBC conservationist, appeared in documentaries related to hi ...

to conserve the Asian elephants. In 2017, Gupta formed Women's Business Mentoring organization which aims to help Scottish women become successful by providing mentoring schemes across the country. She contributed to the

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (; born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the India national cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Kohli plays as a right-handed Batting (cricket), batte ...

Foundation when she placed the winning bid on a painting donated to the cause by the artist

Sacha Jafri Sacha Jafri (born 1977 in United Kingdom) is a contemporary British artist known for creating the world's largest painting on canvas, ''Journey of Humanity'' (as recognised by ''Guinness World Records'') over seven months in 2020 during the COVI ...

. 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.

Awards, honours and appointments

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, Poonam 1976 births Living people Businesspeople from Delhi Indian emigrants to Scotland Scottish women in business Scottish philanthropists Indian women philanthropists Indian philanthropists Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Officers of the Order of the British Empire