At 17 years old, sitting with Willie Scott — the founder of Almond Engineering — going through some quotes, Michelle Quinn said something that surprised even herself.
"I'll be the first female MD in this company."
They both laughed. It seemed like a random thing to say. She was still a teenager. She'd started as a three-week temp. She had no qualifications, no engineering background and no formal plan.
Twenty-one years later, she owns the company. And she completed the management buyout less than two weeks after having her first child.
In this episode of Scale HER Up, Michelle joins Brenda to share the story of how she got there — including the parts nobody usually talks about.
The long way round — and why it worked
Michelle left school without the grades that would have sent her to university, in a year when the message from school guidance was clear: university or good luck. There was no middle path.
She started at Almond because a temp agency listed a three-week filing role. She went in to fill time. She stayed because something unexpected happened: she became fascinated.
"I remember walking through a shopping centre and seeing a handrail, and the quality of the welding was terrible. And I thought — there's something in me here."
Within the first year, she was asking the owner to let her learn how to quote jobs — on her own time, unpaid. She spent years moving through every part of the business: finance, sales, shop floor, design, manufacturing, customer visits. Not because she was told to, but because she needed to understand it all.
No degree. No formal route. Just relentless curiosity and an early understanding that the knowledge was available if she was willing to work for it.
Being a woman in a room full of men
When Michelle joined Almond, there were two women in the business. She walked into customer sites to find walls covered floor to ceiling in Page 3 pictures. The tooling reps still brought nude calendars. Customers asked to speak to the owner, not to her.
"It took a dent in confidence. Am I not really gonna go any further? Are people not gonna believe in me?"
She built trust the same way she built everything else: through genuine interest. She spent time on the shop floor learning the machines, asking the engineers about their backgrounds, understanding what they specialised in. She made herself known through knowledge and relationship, not title.
Today, five of Almond Engineering's 34 staff are women. Still far from where it should be — and Michelle is honest that when they advertise any role, whether it's an engineer, an apprentice or a designer, female applicants are almost non-existent.
"I can get 100 applicants and zero are female. There's something at grassroots that needs to change."
The management buyout — and what happened two weeks before it
When COVID hit, the majority shareholder decided to step away. The reins were handed to Michelle as Managing Director. But within months, she got a call: the owners were in discussions with a buyer. A company that bought businesses, had plants in multiple locations, and — something just didn't sit right.
"This is not where I saw Almond going."
She got off the call and started making phone calls. Scottish Enterprise. The council. Everyone she could think of. She needed to know every possible option — employee ownership, management buyout, anything. And within six months, she and her fellow director Steven had a plan. Within a year of negotiations between lawyers, they had a deal.
The management buyout of Almond Engineering was completed in November 2022.
Michelle's daughter was less than two weeks old.
She had been working at 41 weeks pregnant. She was still in the gym at 39 weeks. She had warned the lawyers and the outgoing owners in advance: "There might be a 24-hour window at the end of October where I might be unavailable. Give me a day and I'll be back."
Her daughter was two weeks old when Michelle brought her into the office, gathered the team, and told them the news: they were the new owners.
Workaholic — and what changed
Michelle is honest: she was a workaholic. Staying back after hours, working weekends, driving to the empty industrial estate at 10pm on a Saturday night to get ahead.
"I was working days, nights, weekends. And at some point I thought: who am I doing this for?"
Having her daughter changed things — not because she stepped back, but because the boundary finally made sense.
"When we go on holiday, I do want to enjoy it as a family holiday. And, definitely, it has changed my working pattern. But I'm glad that it has."
Almond introduced flexible working just before COVID — one of the best decisions they've made. Start times between 7 and 9am, no hierarchy, everyone treated the same. Michelle, who used to be first in every morning, now arrives at half eight. It's taken adjustment. She still feels the pull.
But owning the business has made the work feel different. She'll do deliveries if the driver is short. She'll hoover the office. There is nothing she won't do. And her team sees it.
"We're not just owners taking money out of the company. We graft. And I think they respect us more for that."
About Michelle Quinn
Michelle Quinn is the Managing Director and co-owner of Almond Engineering, a precision engineering company based in Livingston, West Lothian, serving industries including pharmaceutical, medical, semiconductor, oil and gas, aerospace, defence and food and drink. She joined the company at 17 as a temporary office junior and completed a management buyout in November 2022. She is a passionate advocate for getting more women into engineering.
