Lord-Lieutenant and Vice Lord-Lieutenant
Lord-Lieutenant
Alan Simpson OBE, FRSE, MA(Oxon), DUniv, CEng, MICE
Edinburgh-born, Alan Simpson spent most of his working life as a civil engineer with Fairhurst, based in Glasgow.
He was responsible for the design of a wide range of civil engineering projects including the strengthening of the Forth Road Bridge, the completion of the M8 between Edinburgh and Glasgow, parts of the M74, wind farms, power station improvements, water treatment works and sewage treatment works. He retired in 2009.
He was Chairman of the Court of the University of Stirling from 2007 to 2015 and was Chair of the Committee of Scottish Chairs of Higher Education Institutions. He was member of the Von Prondzynski review panel set up by the Scottish Government to report on Higher Education Governance. Alan’s other interests include music and he was Chairman of the National Youth Orchestras of Scotland from 1998 to 2011. Alan is a past-chairman of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) Scotland, having previously served on the Council of ICE. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2023 and is a member of The King’s Bodyguard for Scotland Royal Company of Archers.
Currently, he is chair of the Macrobert Arts Centre and chairman of the Lake of Menteith Fisheries Limited.
Alan was awarded an OBE in 2015 for services to education, and in 2017 he was appointed as Lord-Lieutenant.
Vice Lord-Lieutenant
Colonel Alastair Campbell DL
On leaving the Army he briefly went unto the hotel trade, but then joined the MOD Civil Service. He was Regimental Secretary of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in Stirling Castle, and Curator of the Museum from 2000 – 2006. He then became the first Regimental Secretary of The Royal Regiment of Scotland, based in Edinburgh Castle, when it formed in 2006, serving until 2017. He has been involved with the Army Cadet Force, as Commandant of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Battalion from 2003 – 2009 and Director of the Army Cadet Force Pipes and Drums 2009 – 2012.
He is a Member of the Royal Company of Archers (King’s Bodyguard for Scotland). He lives in Buchlyvie with his wife, Rosie, and they have three sons.
Deputy Lieutenants
Jacqueline Fingland DL
Jacquie was born in Lenzie and moved to Doune with her family in 1975. She attained a Bachelor of Accountancy degree from Glasgow University and subsequently qualified as a Chartered Accountant.
Jacquie and her husband moved to the Callander area in 1992 and have five children.
She has enjoyed an active role in the local community, including committee roles in the local Playgroup and then as Chair of the Callander Primary School Board. She assisted in the running of Callander Brownies from 2003 until 2017 and was Coordinator of the McLaren Duke of Edinburgh Group between 2007 and 2016.
She is currently Treasurer of the Callander and District Horticultural Society and organises the local ‘Art in the Kirk’ show. Beyond her local community, Jacquie and her family are proud to have supported Cancer Support Scotland (Tak Tent) for over 30 years.
Gaston Robin James Iffla MBE DL
Robin is a “Son of the Rock”, having been born in Stirling to Jamaican parents.
His father was a professional cricketer and Robin went on to serve the communities of Central Scotland by becoming a police officer. Upon retiral form there he went on to become an Equalities advisor to the local Fire and Rescue Service before becoming a founder Board Member of the new Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
A past Dean of The Merchant Guidry of Stirling, current Chair of the Guardians Of Scotland Trust and a Trustee of Cowane’s Hospital Trust.
Robin is also a director and lead trainer of an Equality and Diversity company and was awarded an MBE for his work on Equalities and Community Cohesion in 2016.
Neil MacDonald DL 
Neil hails from the Bridge of Allan/Stirling area and now resides in Larbert with his wife Madelene.
He retired from Central Scotland Police as Chief Superintendent in 2006, having served since 1976.
Upon retiral Neil became heavily involved in golf administration at club, Area and national levels being appointed to the then Scottish Golf Union Council and in 2015 as a Non Executive Director of the newly formed Scottish Golf Ltd, the national body governing amateur golf in Scotland. Neil stepped down from these commitments in 2017. He is a past Chairman of Glenbervie Golf Club.
A qualified Tournament Administrator and Rules Official, the highlight of his involvement was as a Rules Official at the 2016 Open Championship.
Neil was commissioned as a Deputy Lieutenant in 2008.
Pippa Maclean DL
Pippa was born and brought up in Stirlingshire. She was educated in Scotland, England and Switzerland. Having worked in London for 10 years in catering, she married and came to live in Scotland, where she started a small catering business.
Pippa now runs a small Holiday Let and bed and breakfast business.
She has one daughter, one son and a stepdaughter.
She has been involved on many charity Committees helping with fundraising events, including the Forth Carriage Driving for the Disabled (RDA) and Turn to Us, formally known as The Elisabeth Finn Trust.
Her interests include, the Arts, cooking, gardening, travel and breeding hens.
Sir Iain McMillan CBE FRSE DL
Sir Iain McMillan spent twenty-three years with the TSB Group prior to joining the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in 1993. He held the position of Director, CBI Scotland for nineteen years until 2014.
Sir Iain is currently Chairman of the University of Strathclyde Business School Advisory Board, a Member of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, a Member of the Audit & Risk Assurance Committee of the Competition Service and Honorary Patron of the Scottish North American Business Council (SNABC).
In 2003, Sir Iain was appointed CBE for services to the business community and lifelong learning in Scotland and, in 2015, was awarded a knighthood for services to the Scottish economy. Sir Iain is a Fellow of The Royal Society of Edinburgh and a Freeman of the City of Glasgow.
Mary Pitcaithly OBE DL
Mary is a Falkirk Bairn, born and bred. She returned to Falkirk early in her career as a solicitor and moved to the public sector when she joined Falkirk Council in 1980. For her last 20 years with the Council she was the Chief Executive, retiring from that role in June 2018.
Mary is now a member of the Board of the Scottish Police Authority and of the newly created Infrastructure Commission. Reflecting her long term concern for the interests of young people, Mary is also on the Boards of Sacro and YouthLink Scotland.
Colonel Charlie Wallace DL
Colonel Charles (Charlie) Wallace spent 35 years in the Army serving in a number of places across the world from the Falkland Islands to Brunei and Hong Kong; and from India and Nepal to North America and many places in between. His operational service included: Northern Ireland; the UN in the Former Yugoslavia (Bosnia, Serbia and Croatia); Iraq and Afghanistan where he spent a year as the Chief Planner in
Helmand Province for which he was awarded the US Bronze Star.
He recently completed 3 ½ years as the Scottish Veterans Commissioner where he attempted to make sure that policies in the devolved space such as housing, health and education met the needs of our veterans in Scotland. He was left with a deep
impression of the need to help society re-discover the talent veterans bring to it when they retire from active service.
He is the Chairman of the Highland and Lowland Brigades Club and a trustee on the Royal Company of Archers Charitable Trust which aims to improve the lives of those in the uniformed services, youth and the disabled through the medium of sport.
He and his family moved to their 16th house near Blairdrummond in 2011 in preparation for the end of his military career which came about in 2018. His last appointment in the Army was as Deputy Commander of 51st Infantry Brigade and HQ Scotland based in Stirling.
Wendy Scott DL
Wendy was born in Northern Ireland and came to live in Scotland in 1989 to make a career change from retail IT to conservation which led to an MSc in Landscape, Ecology, Design and Management.
She has lived near Plean since 1996 with her husband and son, working initially with the development of Community Woodlands in the Falkirk area as part of the Central Scotland Forest.
At present, Wendy has a self-catering cottage at home which runs alongside the family’s wholesale plant nursery. When not looking after visitors, voluntary activity is an important part of her life and she contributes both practically and in the administration of local charities. This includes acting as Treasurer for both the Friends of Plean Country Park and the Forth Carriage Driving Group (Riding for Disabled) based in Carronshore.
Professor Ken Thomson OBE DL
Dr Ken Thomson joined Falkirk College of Further and Higher Education in 1994 following eight years in environmental education. He became Principal and Chief Executive of Forth Valley College in 2013 having previously held posts of Depute Principal, Director of Learning and prior to that, Head of Science. He retired as Principal in 2023
Ken graduated from the University of Nottingham with a BSc (Hons) in Zoology (1982) followed by a PhD at the University of Edinburgh (1986). He completed his Teacher Qualification FE from Strathclyde University in 1997. Ken was an HMI Associate Assessor for Science from 1999 to 2006.
Ken was a member of the Colleges Scotland Principals Group (CPG) with lead responsibility for the sector’s Digital Ambition and School College Partnerships. He was a member of the Scottish Government’s Curriculum and Assessment Board as the Scottish Colleges representative. He is a Board member of the Scottish Qualifications Authority, Chairs the SQA Qualifications Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee and Advisory Council. Ken has been a Board member of HES and on the Board of Trustees for Jisc, both roles held from 2014 to January 2021. Ken is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and was awarded Regional IoD Director of the Year in 2020.
Away from work Ken is a keen cricketer and is now trying his hand at fly fishing.
In November 2019 Ken was awarded the OBE for services to education, economic development and the communities of the Forth Valley area.
Baljit Dhillon DL
Baljit was born in India and came to England at the age of 3years. She moved to Scotland 1979 with her husband to start a family business. They started in retail supermarkets offering fast food in four different food cuisines.
She moved to Falkirk in 1985 and she has four children. As well as running the family business, she played an active part supporting local charities, schools and the local community.
At present Baljit helps run the family ice cream business with her son. A keen volunteer for Strathcarron Hospice, she is on the fundraising committee and is an active council board member. Also a committee member for Forth Valley Indian women’s association to promote integration and an understanding between different cultures to bring together at events.
Her interests include keep fit, cooking, reading and practising mindfulness meditation
Lieutenant Colonel Ian McAlister MBE DL
Educated at St Paul’s School in London, Ian was commissioned into The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1979 and served in the Army for 36 years. In addition to service in mainland UK, including 2 years in Stirling and 5 years in the Ministry of Defence, he served in Northern Ireland, Cyprus, the Falkland Islands, Germany, Pakistan, the USA and Belgium. As a qualified Mountain Leader he also had the good fortune to take part in numerous mountaineering expeditions around the world. He was made a MBE in 1996.
Since leaving the Army in 2015 Ian has worked as an IT project manager for the Royal Bank of Scotland/National Westminster Bank Group.
Ian continues to be involved in The Argylls’ regimental and the local military veteran communities as a Trustee of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Trust, the Editor of the regimental magazine and as a fundraiser for the Forth Valley Branch of the charitable Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA).
A tenor in Còisir Ghàidhlig Shruighlea (Stirling Gaelic Choir), Ian is also a keen curler and hill walker and a member of the Rotary Club of Stirling. He and his wife Fenella live in Stirling and have a son and daughter.
Clerk to the Lieutenancy
Irene Peat
Irene has spent her career in local government and is the PA of the Chief Executive of Falkirk Council.
Prior to that, she worked for Stirling Council.
She took over as Clerk to the Lieutenancy in 2018.
Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadets
The Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadets are seen as the aide and representative of the Cadet Forces to the Royal Family and the Lord-lieutenant in the area they live. Eligible Cadets are chosen from each of the main Cadet Forces; the Sea Cadets, Army Cadet Force, Royal Air Force Cadets and the Combined Cadet Force. They are selected annually and appointed on Armed Forces Day. Being selected as Lord-Lieutenant’s Cadet is seen as one of the highest achievements in the Cadet Forces.
Cadet Staff Sergeant Alicia Bullock
Cadet Staff Sergeant Alicia Bullock is a pupil at Queen Victoria School where she is an active member of the CCF and delivers lessons to junior cadets. She helps in the local community supporting charities through the Make a Difference Group. She also supports the work of Defence Children Services through the Forces Children Group.
Cadet Flight Sergeant Thomas Scott
Cadet Flight Sergeant Thomas Scott attended Denny High School and has been a member of the ATC for 5 years. Before that he spent 10 years in the Boys Brigade. He is keen on aviation and is a member of the squadron’s air rifle team. He hopes to join the RAF.
Stirling and Falkirk Lieutenancy 
You must be logged in to post a comment.