Merry Christmas one and all!

So here it is, dear readers, my last blog post of 2012 (please, no tears, I know it's tough but we will get through this temporary separation)...I took the November/December issue of FStech to press earlier this month and my last day in the office is today. It just remains for me to tie up some loose ends and attend one last work-related Yuletide party and then I'm done for the year.

It's been an eventful 2012 for yours truly. This has been my first full year at the helm of FStech, after joining from sister publication Retail Systems in June 2011. I've thoroughly enjoyed it and am looking forward to hitting the ground running in 2013 with the FStech Awards (shortlist to be sorted when I get back from Christmas break, followed by the judging day in early February and the big night in April...lots to get through). Thanks to all who have supported and worked with the title this year, including Vendorcom's Paul Rodgers for doing a great job of chairing our Payments Technology Conference in November; and those who have agreed to be on the judging panel for the aforementioned awards: Ian Alderton, Chief Information Officer, formerly Corporate Banking, RBS; Simon Barrows, Head of Financial Services, Glue Reply; Simon Burrows, Director, PwC; Glenn Murphy, Head of IT, London & Capital; Richard Norris, IT Director, Cullum Capital Ventures; and Aksana Pekun, Managing Director and Technology Specialist, Altium.

I'm off to eat, drink and be merry. Happy Christmas and here’s to a prosperous 2013!