# Matthew Sykes

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{{Short description|British Army general}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
| honorific_prefix   = [Major General](/source/Major_general_(United_Kingdom))
| name               = Matthew Sykes
| honorific_suffix   = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CVO}}
| image              = 
| caption            = 
| birth_date         = {{birth year and age|1955}}
| death_date         = 
| burial_label       = 
| burial_place       = 
| birth_place        = 
| death_place        = 
| burial_coordinates = <!-- {{coord|LAT|LONG|display=inline,title}} -->
| nickname           = 
| allegiance         = United Kingdom
| branch             = [British Army](/source/British_Army)
| service_years      = 1976 – 2010
| rank               = [Major General](/source/Major-general_(United_Kingdom))
| unit               = 
| commands           = [3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery](/source/3rd_Regiment_Royal_Horse_Artillery)<br>[Royal Artillery](/source/Royal_Artillery)
| battles            = [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland)<br>[Bosnian War](/source/Bosnian_War)<br>[Kosovo War](/source/Kosovo_War)
| awards             = [Commander of the Royal Victorian Order](/source/Commander_of_the_Royal_Victorian_Order)
| relations          = 
| other_work         = 
}}
[Major General](/source/Major_General) '''Richard Matthew McQueen Sykes''' [CVO](/source/Royal_Victorian_Order) (born 1955) is a retired senior [British Army](/source/British_Army) officer. From 2010 to 2014 he was group chief executive of [Elizabeth Finn Care](/source/Elizabeth_Finn_Care), a large charity providing relief from poverty in the UK.  A former [British Army](/source/British_Army) officer, his military career culminated as [Assistant Chief of Defence Staff](/source/Assistant_Chief_of_Defence_Staff) (Personnel) in the UK [Ministry of Defence](/source/Ministry_of_Defence_(United_Kingdom)).  At the same he served as the [Defence Services Secretary](/source/Defence_Services_Secretary) from 2007 to 2010 in the [Royal Household](/source/Royal_Household). He is currently chief executive of the Sir Simon Milton Foundation.

==Military career==
Sykes was [commissioned](/source/Commissioned_officer) into the [Royal Artillery](/source/Royal_Artillery) in 1976.<ref name=finn>{{cite web|url=http://www.civilsociety.co.uk/governance/news/content/6443/new_chief_exec_appointed_by_elizabeth_finn_care|title= New chief exec appointed by Elizabeth Finn Care|publisher= Civil Society|date= 14 April 2010|accessdate=21 September 2014}}</ref> He became Commanding Officer of [3rd Regiment Royal Horse Artillery](/source/3rd_Regiment_Royal_Horse_Artillery) in 1994.<ref name=pr>{{cite web|url=http://www.prweek.com/article/166453/profile-brigadier-matthew-sykes-army---army-comms-chief-fit-pr-challenges |title=Brigadier Matthew Sykes, The Army - Army comms chief fit for PR challenges|publisher= PR Week|date= 6 December 2002|accessdate=21 September 2014}}</ref> He went on to be Strategic Policy Chief at [NATO](/source/NATO)'s [Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe](/source/Supreme_Headquarters_Allied_Powers_Europe) in 1997, Chief Co-ordinator of Joint Firepower for the [Allied Rapid Reaction Corps](/source/Allied_Rapid_Reaction_Corps) in 2000 and Director of Corporate Communications for the Army at the [Ministry of Defence](/source/Ministry_of_Defence_(United_Kingdom)) in 2002.<ref name=pr/> After that he became Director [Royal Artillery](/source/Royal_Artillery) in 2005 and then [Defence Services Secretary](/source/Defence_Services_Secretary) in 2007 as well as Assistant Chief of Defence Staff (Personnel) from 2009 before retiring from the Army in 2010.<ref name=finn/> He served on operations in [Northern Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland), [Bosnia-Herzegovina](/source/Bosnia-Herzegovina) and [Kosovo](/source/Kosovo).  During his time as Defence Services Secretary, he was responsible for the introduction of the [Elizabeth Cross](/source/Elizabeth_Cross) awarded to families of the [British Armed Forces](/source/British_Armed_Forces) killed in action or as a result of a terrorist attack since the [Second World War](/source/Second_World_War).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist/ITN/2009/07/01/T01070942/?v=1|title=New medal 'The Elizabeth Cross' approved by Queen|publisher=ITN|date=1 July 2009|accessdate=21 September 2014}}</ref>

==Post military career==

After leaving the Army, from 2010 to 2014 he was group chief executive of [Elizabeth Finn Care](/source/Elizabeth_Finn_Care), a British charity helping people in the [UK](/source/UK) struggling with financial hardship. During the same period he was a non-executive director of Elizabeth Finn Homes Limited, a company owned by the charity, responsible for the running of 9 care homes and 11 almshouses.<ref name="finn" /> 

He is now chief executive of the Sir Simon Milton Foundation, a charity based in the [City of Westminster](/source/City_of_Westminster) helping disadvantaged younger people in training and education and supporting older people, especially those who are lonely and socially isolated.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://opencharities.org/charities/1149166|title=Sir Simon Milton Foundation|publisher=Open Charities|accessdate=11 February 2016}}</ref>

He holds a number of other executive, non-executive, advisory, consultant and voluntary posts, including [Gentleman Usher](/source/Lady_and_Gentleman_Usher) to [the King](/source/Charles_III) and he was Honorary Regimental Colonel of the [King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery](/source/King's_Troop%2C_Royal_Horse_Artillery). In this capacity he accompanied [Margaret Thatcher](/source/Margaret_Thatcher)'s coffin to [St Paul's Cathedral](/source/St_Paul's_Cathedral) during her funeral.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-22202827|title=Unpicking Margaret Thatcher's funeral|publisher=BBC|date=18 April 2013|access-date=21 September 2014}}</ref> In 2010 he was made a [Freeman of the City of London](/source/Freedom_of_the_City_of_London).<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Admissions of Freemen Book |journal=The Admissions of Freemen Book |volume=Z5 |ref=2010 651 C}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-mil}}
{{s-bef|before=[Peter Wilkinson](/source/Peter_Wilkinson_(Royal_Navy_officer))}} 
{{s-ttl|title=[Defence Services Secretary](/source/Defence_Services_Secretary)|years=2007&ndash;2010}}
{{s-aft|after=[David Murray](/source/David_Murray_(RAF_officer))}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sykes, Matthew}}
Category:British Army major generals
Category:Royal Artillery officers
Category:Living people
Category:British charity and campaign group workers
Category:NATO military personnel
Category:Commanders of the Royal Victorian Order
Category:1955 births

{{UK-army-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Matthew Sykes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Sykes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Sykes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.