This is the final issue of the Journal of Accident and Emergency Medicine to appear under my editorship. Peter Driscoll and Jim Wardrope have been appointed as editors and I wish them every success.

As I head towards the sunset, I must express my thanks to all those who have been part of the editorial team during my tenure. Without wishing to be too Oscar-esque, there are key individuals without whom none of this would have been possible.

I am grateful to Richard Smith and Alex Williamson for providing the opportunity for the journal to join the prestigious ranks of BMJ Specialist Journals. Valerie Crean and Andrea Horgan have provided masterful management skills.

The skills of the technical editors should never ever be under-estimated—this verdict is evidence-based having spent many hours in the past proof reading manuscripts only to fail to spot the typos! I have been extremely fortunate to have had the experience and expertise of Oliver Brooke initially and latterly Sue Heels in this role.

The appropriate phrase to express my gratitude to Kathryn Sims, editorial assistant, remains just outside my grasp. She has been absolutely outstanding and pivotal as the principal point of contact at the journal. Kathryn has brilliantly managed my idiosyncrasies and those difficult phone calls sometimes received from authors whose papers have been rejected. Superlatives seem inadequate.

This is a quintessential team effort and it would have been simply impossible to function without the unfailing support and contribution of the associate editors and editorial board. My thanks also to the squad of reviewers of papers for the journal whose enthusiasm and commitment have been superb.

It has been a privilege and pleasure to serve as editor during these past five years. I believe that the journal has continued to fulfil the potential made possible by previous editors. This evolution will continue and the journal has an exciting future as one of the leading international publications in emergency medicine.