Fiona Dempster took home the accolade at the recent ceremony held in London that celebrates 16 outstanding individuals working in the transport and logistics sector, honouring and championing their achievements as well as recognising them as role models for the next generation of female talent.

The event’s organisers said this year’s winners encompassed a wide range of career experiences and journeys – from apprentice to senior leader – showcasing both the breadth of opportunities available for women in this traditionally male-dominated industry and the vital contribution women make across all sectors of the industry; from freight and retail to automotive, maritime, and air transport.

PG Paper was established by Poonam and Puneet Gupta in 2003 and is headquartered in Greenock.

Poonam Gupta commented: “Fiona thoroughly deserves this achievement, and I am very proud of her. Fiona is an excellent leader of PG Paper’s global team and is always happy to offer her colleagues support and share her knowledge to ensure our global operations run smoothly.”

Puneet Gupta added: “I am incredibly proud of Fiona, and I was delighted to join her at the everywoman awards to share the excitement of this memorable moment in her career. Fiona has been an integral asset to PG Paper’s success throughout her nine years with the business, and both Poonam and I look forward to more great milestones with Fiona as our head of logistics.”

PG Paper said Dempster had been “an incredible mentor” to members of the company’s team, particularly a recent apprentice, Erin, who transitioned from her role as an apprentice to logistics co-ordinator last year.

There have also been members of the team who started working at PG Paper in different job roles, such as administration, and then transitioned into a logistics role through Dempster’s guidance and support.

PG Paper is currently running a Modern Apprenticeship programme for the fifth year. This is run in partnership with certified training providers such as QA, JB Management, and Set Training and at the end of the year, the apprentice receives a diploma in their chosen course, which over the years has ranged from Digital Application Support to MA in Business and Administration and IT, among others.

The chosen training provider gives the apprentice the required academic teachings, which can be classroom or online based. Once its apprentice completes the six-month mark and has mastered the admin and initial tasks of their role, PG Paper does an in-depth review with them to understand their future role/field of interest.

PG Paper has multiple functional departments such as finance, marketing, sales, logistics, procurement, commercial, and research and based on the discussion, its apprentices are given the opportunity to work in their field of interest to assess their capabilities.

The company is currently growing its operations in the UK and has opportunities to supply stocks of WFU and cartonboard domestically. It is also recruiting for a sales executive for the UK and Ireland to join its team, particularly with experience in graphical paper.