Poonam Gupta

Some Lesser Known Facts About Poonam Gupta

• Poonam grew up in Delhi and left India permanently after her marriage to settle in Scotland, where her husband worked. She is the first lady in the family to run a business.

• Though Poonam had an MBA degree, no one employed her because she had no work experience. This pushed her to begin her own business.

• She suffered from serious bone tuberculosis at the birth of her second daughter due to which she was bound to use a wheelchair for about 18 months.

• Poonam’s extensive research gave her the idea of her first business. She observed that companies in Europe and America use extensive scrap papers to present their products better in the market for higher sales. They further paid in crores to dispose of these papers.

• After her 10 months of research, she concluded that these waste papers can be recycled and reused and she got the idea for her business venture.

• Poonam later started a company from her home in Kilmacolm, Scotland using Rs. 1 lakh that she received as a grant from a scheme by the Scottish Government. In her first deal, she bought scrap paper from an Italian company and found a buyer in India. In this deal, she generated a revenue of Rs. 40 lakh.

• With this, Poonam began recycling papers and metals from landfill waste to create customised paper and metal packaging solutions for big e-commerce companies.

• Poonam covered several companies from Sweden, Finland, and the United States to crack such deals and in 2003, she registered this business as her first business company in Scotland by the name ‘PG Paper Company Ltd.’

• Her vision behind this company was also to bring a sustainable solution to the problem of plastic pollution in the environment. Her paper production has replaced many plastic packaging materials that were used by big e-commerces around the globe.

• On exponential revenue increase, she asked her husband to join her, who jokingly told her that she wouldn’t be able to afford him as he was then earning a package of Rs. 80 lakhs per annum; however, Puneet later supported her by working part-time for 6 months.

• In 2005, her husband joined her business completely at an annual package of Rs.1.50 crore. They expanded their business by entering into construction, IT, and hospitality business ventures. These include her companies – PG World, SAPP Holdings, SAPP International, SAPP Property, EnVisage Dental Health, Punav, and Opptagon Ltd.

• PG Paper Company Ltd. also works on product creation and development. The company carries out its manufacturing process in about 18 countries and the final products are exported to around 60 countries.

• Poonam Gupta’s business includes both importing and exporting from India.

• In 2015, the company’s headquarters were shifted from her house in Kilmacolm, Scotland to the Custom House in Greenock, Scotland.

• Poonam Gupta became a part-time Ambassador of Scotland’s Women’s Enterprise in 2016.

• She is also engaged in philanthropy. In 2015 and 2017, she and her husband became participants in a fundraising autorickshaw race, conducted by ‘Elephant Family,’ an organization that works on the conservation of Asian elephants.

• In 2017, Poonam Gupta also donated money to the Virat Kohli Foundation by paying the winning bid for a painting that was auctioned to raise funds for the foundation. This painting was made by the British artist, Sacha Jafri.

• In 2017, she founded ‘The Women’s Business Mentoring Organization’ which conducts mentoring schemes in Scotland for women to reach success.

• She was appointed as the Vice-President of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce in August 2017 and served as a Board Member at the Enterprise Skills Strategic Board of the Scottish Government from October 2017 till October 2019.

• In 2019, Poonam Gupta was appointed as Chairman of the UK India Manufacturing/Trading Council at the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

• In 2019, Poonam showed interest in using technology to clean the Yamuna River and preserve the Taj Mahal. The Haryana government supported her vision but COVID-19 delayed the process. She wishes to provide clean drinking water to the areas that surround the Yamuna.

• She became the Ambassador of the Young Enterprise Scotland in February 2020.

• During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, she helped provide 3,000 oxygen concentrators in India by leading an India Covid Appeal.

• Poonam became an Investor in the Earlsfield Capital Partners in the year 2021.

• From September 2021 to August 2022, she served as a Board Member at the Asia Scotland Institute.

• She was given the post of Lay Member of Court at the University of Stirling in 2022.

• In November 2022, Poonam Gupta was appointed as the Export Champion of Scotland’s Department for International Trade (DIT).

• Poonam Gupta is one of the most popular entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom. As of 2024, she owns 9 companies and has 7 offices worldwide. In an interview, Poonam said that her goal is to reach a net worth of Rs 1 lakh crore.

• She is fond of Bollywood and wishes to produce a Bollywood film soon. Poonam is working on making a film city in Scotland for the shooting of Bollywood films.

• Her favourite dialogue is ‘Watan k aage kuch bhi nahi hai, khud bhi nahi hai’ from the 2018 Bollywood film ‘Raazi.’

• Poonam is a dog lover and has a pet dog.