Simon Lalor
Retired British Army Reserve major general; Honourable Artillery Company Court member
Major General Simon Francis Neil Lalor CB TD is a retired British Army Reserve officer who served with the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC). He finished his career as the senior serving reserve officer, with a final appointment as Assistant Chief of the Defence Staff (Reserves & Cadets), and later chaired the Reserve Forces External Scrutiny Team. He was a member of the HAC's Court of Assistants (its trustees) at 31 October 2025.[1][2]
Military career
According to the Council of Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations (CRFCA), of which he was Vice-Chairman (Army) in 2014/15, Lalor was "Commissioned from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1976" and "served operational tours in Northern Ireland and Belize". He left the Regular Army after four years for a commercial career in the City of London, "but continued his military service in the Army Reserves and finished his military career as the senior serving reserve officer in the rank of Major General. His final appointment was Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Reserves & Cadets)."[1]
The London Gazette records his HAC commissions under "Honourable Artillery Company, Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve": as a lieutenant from 3 February 1979;[3] promotion to major on 10 March 1990;[4] and to lieutenant colonel on 1 October 1993.[5] He was appointed CB in the 2010 New Year Honours as "Major General Simon Francis Neil Lalor, T.D., late The Honourable Artillery Company, Territorial Army".[6]
Business
The CRFCA report says his commercial career "has included being one of the two original founders of Britam Defence Ltd, a mid-size risk management and training consultancy", and "directorships of major companies in industry and commerce".[1]
Reserve Forces External Scrutiny Team
Lalor chaired the Reserve Forces External Scrutiny Team (EST), which produces an annual statutory report on the UK reserve forces. In the 2025 report his successor paid tribute to "Major General Simon Lalor, my predecessor as Chair", and thanked him for working "both as a member and then as the Chair, to ensure that the EST Report was an accurate barometer of the 'health' of the Reserves".[7]
Honourable Artillery Company
The HAC's 2025 accounts list "Major General S F N Lalor CB" among the elected members of the Court of Assistants as at 31 October 2025.[2] Companies House records him as a director of two HAC subsidiaries: HAC Flank Companies' Ball Limited (02266408) from 1 November 1993 to 9 March 1999, and HAC Enterprises Limited (01677400) from 26 March 2014 to 16 March 2016.[8]
First Aid Nursing Yeomanry
He is listed as a Vice-President of the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps) in its 2024 and 2025 annual reports.[9]
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Council of Reserve Forces' and Cadets' Associations, Annual Report 2014/15, Ministry of Defence, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Honourable Artillery Company, Report of the Court of Assistants and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 October 2025, filed with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, accessed 1 November 2026.
- ↑ The London Gazette, Issue 48015, supplement p. 14928, 27 November 1979, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ The London Gazette, Issue 52261, supplement p. 14191, 4 September 1990, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ The London Gazette, Issue 53446, supplement p. 16043, October 1993, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ The London Gazette, Issue 59282, supplement p. 2, 31 December 2009, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ Reserve Forces External Scrutiny Team, The United Kingdom Reserve Forces External Scrutiny Team Annual Statutory Report 2025, accessed 7 November 2026.
- ↑ Companies House, officer records for companies 02266408 and 01677400, accessed 1 November 2026.
- ↑ First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal's Volunteer Corps), Annual Report and Accounts for the years ended 31 December 2024 and 31 December 2025, filed with the Charity Commission (charity 249360), accessed 1 November 2026.