Gambit Corporate Finance has assessed the acquisition of more than 2,000 Welsh firms from 2000 to 2025.

The vast majority of firms acquired in Wales over the last 26 years remain operating here, countering a narrative that ownership exits can lead to significant extraction with businesses being hollowed out or moved elsewhere.

A new in-depth analysis by Cardiff-based boutique corporate advisory firm Gambit, based on more than 2,000 exit deals in Wales from 2000 to 2025, shows that following a change of ownership, more than 90% of firms remain actively trading in Wales.

The most popular route to exiting over the period was via a trade sale, with 74% of shareholders choosing this transfer of ownership option. The second most popular exit route was via a management buyout (MBO) or management buy-in (MBI), which accounted for 21% of the deals surveyed. Notable MBO/MBI exits were the MBO of Pembrokeshire holiday resort Bluestone Resort in 2013 for £87m and the MBO of Flintshire-based supermarket chain Iceland in 2020 for £115m.

There were 29 deals with a value of more than £100m. The highest, at £3bn, involved the sale of the assets of what was the listed utilities group Hyder.

During the 26-year period, South East Wales accounted for 61% of all Welsh exits, South West Wales 22% and North Wales 17%.

There were 34 flotations during the period, with the largest IPO (initial public offering) being Admiral’s £368m flotation in 2004.

During 2000-2011, 55% of exits involved businesses that were less than 10 years old. This dropped to 38% between 2012 and 2025. Gambit said this was symptomatic of the lack of available liquidity during a prolonged recession and market uncertainty around Brexit.

At 57, the average shareholder age at exit has been rising over the past decade. This may be an indication that external factors, such as Covid-19, have delayed owners from transferring their businesses.

On the figure that more than 90% of firms have remained active in Wales post change of ownership, founder partner of Gambit, Frank Holmes, said: “It’s a myth we can finally put to bed. There’s a persistent assumption in Wales that when a local business is bought, it gets hollowed out: the business relocates, the jobs go.

“We individually checked what actually happened to over 2,000 exits across 26 years. Around 90% of genuinely Welsh companies that were acquired are still active and trading in Wales today. Change of ownership isn’t the threat people assume it to be, particularly for buyouts and IPOs.”

The research shows that exit activity in the second half of the period – 2013 to 2025 – comfortably outpaces the first half, with 1,251 exits against 843, representing an average of 96 exit deals a year versus 65.

Mr Holmes said: “Whichever way you cut it, the Welsh market has been getting busier, not quieter. A catalyst for the spike can be attributed to the October 2024 Budget. Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rose immediately on its announcement and continued in 2025 and 2026.

“That’s a strong incentive to complete a sale before a deadline, and we know from our own activity it pulled a good deal of transactions forward into 2024 that might otherwise have been executed a year or two later.

“However, it was also four years post-Covid, which allowed companies to regain financial performance and improve valuations, thereby demonstrating the sustainable profitability necessary for exit, fortuitously in a strong, liquid market.”

The research shows that 50 firms were acquired by employee ownership trusts (EOTs) – a structure that did provide 100% CGT relief for sellers. The EOT exit route could well have peaked.

Mr Holmes said: “The maturation of the employee ownership trust option became increasingly favoured for predominantly people-services companies, with over 50 transactions in the period.

“This option benefited from the 100% CGT allowance or nil-rate tax incentive, since halved, which was compelling for owners but often funded with revolving debt structures, compromising growth potential. The jury is out on the sustainability of some of these businesses, as some notable failures have already emerged.”

On business owners considering an exit, or a partial one, Mr Holmes said: “Selling up should not be viewed as being a threat to their legacy and the economic wellbeing of their employees and other stakeholders, as it’s sometimes made out to be. It is an important factor in the lifecycle of a business, often left unaddressed and best approached in a planned fashion.

“An ageing generation of owners is going to drive a lot of succession decisions over the next few years.

“Those businesses which have a succession plan will be the ones that make themselves genuinely investable, by adopting tech and innovation-led strategies, cultivating credible management, thereby creating capacity to grow and understanding the optimum routes for exit, well before making a decision to embark on a transaction process.”

Congratulations to Emily Robinson, historian and professor at the University of Sussex, who is our 2026 winner of The Conversation Prize for writers for her entry on Ravenser Odd, the sunken medieval island that continues to inspire and obsess.

Now in its second year, the prize invites academics to submit a 2,000-word article and book pitch. The competition is run in partnership with Faber and Curtis Brown, with the winner receiving mentorship from both organisations and £1,000.

A huge thank you to everyone who entered this year. The standard was very high and it was very difficult to pick just one winner and one runner up.

We are particularly grateful to our judges: Catherine Clarke, professor and director of the Centre for the History of People, Place and Community at the Institute of Historical Research; Tim Minshall, the inaugural Dr John C. Taylor professor of innovation at the University of Cambridge; and Steven Vass, senior editor for Science Insights at The Conversation. Also to Fiona Crosby, senior commissioning editor for non-fiction at Faber, and Elliot Prior, associate agent at Curtis Brown.

The judges said: “After much deliberation, the judges have unanimously selected Emily’s article on Ravenser Odd as the winner of the competition. It tells the hugely intriguing story of a mysterious island in the Humber in the 13th century that then disappeared beneath the waves.

Her story does a lovely job of taking the reader on the writer’s journey to this remote corner of England, as well as exploring the fascination with the folklore of the island. The judges thought it would make a beautiful book with broad appeal that feels particularly timely in light of the threat of climate change.”

Emily said: “Entering the Conversation Prize helped me to really focus on why this story fascinates me. I’m now looking forward to working with the mentors and working out how to make it equally fascinating to other people.”

Emily is a historian of political ideas, identities and cultures in modern Britain, with a particular interest in the way that both time and feeling are conceived within different ideological traditions. Her current research focuses on popular understandings of history, and changing cultures of history-telling through the example of Ravenser Odd.

You can read her winning story here.

Runner up in the competition is Alison Garden, senior lecturer and UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast, for her story on mixed marriages during the troubles in Ireland and what they reveal about the more intimate side of conflict in Ireland.

The judges said: “Alison’s entry focuses on a much overlooked part of Ireland’s story: all the marriages that straddled the religious divide and how they affected the lives of these people and their families.”

The judges “commended the quality of the writing in Alison’s story, and the case studies that told of everything from houses being burned to mothers sidelined in their children’s baptisms. This has the potential to become a fascinating and important book.”

Alison said: “This is such a vital part of the Irish story, and it just doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It is a real privilege and joy to be able to share these histories. Through this project, I’ve talked to huge numbers of people, in Ireland and beyond, about mixed marriages and mixed families. I wanted to see whether there was a broader readership for this work and I’m absolutely delighted that taking that chance has brought this neglected intimate history to a wider audience.‘

Families of the victims of , who pleaded guilty to 14 counts of aiding suicide in Canada in May, are set to address court.

Families of the victims of a ‘poison seller’ linked to dozens of suicides and five deaths in Scotland are set to tell a court of their grief as he faces sentence.

Kenneth Law pleaded guilty to 14 counts of aiding suicide in an Ontario court in Canada in May. The 60-year-old sold lethal substances to victims across the world, including 330 packages sent to the UK.

While Law’s guilty pleas related to cases in Canada, he is also linked to the deaths of 79 people in the UK, which prosecutors say must be taken into account when his sentencing hearing gets underway today.

Impact statements from victims, including those in the UK, are set to be read to the court, with one mum saying Law should “rot in hell” for his vile crimes.

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The court previously heard how Law owned four companies, with one website offering a “set of instructions” and advertising 40-minute telephone consultations for 150 dollars (£111).

The site also featured a “testimonial” from the estate of someone who had been successful in killing themself to prove the “efficacy” of his products.

In Canada, the maximum prison sentence for aiding suicide is 14 years – the same as for encouraging suicide in the UK. It’s understood Law could be sentenced to a longer term due to the number of victims in the case.

Victims’ loved ones will present impact statements to court today ahead of his sentencing. Deaf TikTok creator Imogen Nunn, known as Immy, died in January 2023 aged 25 after buying drugs online from Kenneth Law.

In an impact statement shared with the BBC, her mum Louise Nunn said: “You have destroyed my whole world. If Immy was here now, I know exactly what she would say to me, but I’m not Immy and I will never forgive you.”

The Canada court previously heard how one of his British victims, Tom Windsor, told police he used the substance sold by Law and was found unconscious by emergency crews while still connected to the 999 call.

He told the call operator he did not want to die.

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A 43-year-old British woman died in July 2021 after her four-year-old daughter asked her mum’s husband where she was. The court heard they found his wife “slumped over their daughter’s dollhouse” in the living room.

One of Law’s victims died 12 days after a visit from South Wales Police, who were performing a wellness check.

Danielle Cornish, 29, told officers she had no intention of killing herself and police took no action, but she died on August 22, 2022, after telling emergency services she had taken the product sold by Law.

Another man, Oliver Wade, who had no record of mental health issues, killed himself three days after his mother died of cancer, the court heard.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said all 79 UK victims would form part of the wider investigation into Law, a hotel cook.

But victims’ families were told that Law will not face criminal proceedings in the UK because of the potential for him to challenge the extradition after being convicted in Canada.

British prosecutors described Law as a “serial offender who callously exploited many vulnerable and innocent people exchanging their lives for his financial gain”.

He sold 1,200 packages to 40 countries across the world from Canada-based websites, with 286 people in the UK receiving products, leading to 112 deaths. Some 330 products were sent to the UK, one to the Isle of Man and 12 to Ireland, the court heard.

A letter to bereaved UK families from the NCA and the CPS said the cases would be incorporated into the Canadian prosecution.

It said: “We recognise that this may be painful to hear, and that some victims and bereaved families may have hoped to see a separate prosecution in England and Wales.

“This difficult decision was reached only after detailed consideration of all available options.”

The Crown Office previously said it had been liaising closely with Police Scotland and Canadian prosecutors in relation to the deaths of a number of people in Scotland. It said: “We are limited in what we can say at this time.”

Senior NCA investigating officer Damon Hayes said the move “guarantees all victims and families in the UK will see justice”.

He added: “This approach is not unusual in cases involving serious offending that crosses international borders. This will allow the judge to take into account the full extent of Law’s criminal behaviour, including the fact that his actions resulted in the deaths of people in this country.”

But victims’ families criticised the move.

Adele Zeynep Walton, the sister of 21-year-old Aimee Walton, from Southampton, who died in 2022, said “doors have been shut” for families seeking justice.

The NCA has worked with 45 police forces across the UK to gather evidence on Law’s offending since it launched a probe in 2023.

Specialist CPS prosecutor Andrew Hudson told reporters “no victim has been left behind as part of this process” saying prosecutors would “ensure that the full devastating extent of his criminal conduct is seen and considered by the sentence in court”.

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Fans noticed an announcement could be on the horizon after a countdown appeared on her website and she changed some of the letters in her social media bios to zeroes

Taylor Swift surprised fans yesterday (September 22) by announcing new music. The songstress teased fans with a series of hidden clues and a countdown on her website, sending the rumour mill into overdrive.

The Blank Space singer confirmed that ‘Patient Zero’ will be released on streaming services on Friday, but it’s not yet clear whether the song represents a new era or a vault track from one of her previous releases.

Its release marks Swift’s first since she married NFL star Travis Kelce at Madison Square Gardens in July, and her first single since the Toy Story 5 soundtrack song ‘I knew It, I knew You’, which topped the charts this summer.

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“I’ve been impatiently waiting to tell you that my brand new single “Patient Zero” will be out on September 25 (!!!!!!) and it’s available to pre-order now on my website for 24 hours,” she wrote on social media following the teasers.

A series of clues pointed to a big announcement in the run up to the reveal, with her bio on Instagram and X changed to read, “And, baby, that’s sh0w business f0r y0u.” Each ‘O’ in the phrase was replaced with a zero.

It was paired with a countdown clock on her website, which then eventually revealed the upcoming single. Fans prior to this had been speculating that the countdown was something to do with an album re-record or re-release, Taylor Swift, while others suggested the music star was hinting at a deluxe version of her latest album, ‘The Life of a Showgirl’, or even a totally new album.

At the same time, one of Swift’s beloved backing dancers, Kameron Saunders fuelled the fire that a tour announcement could also be imminent. The backing dancer shared a Instagram post, which showed an image emblazoned across a digital screen next to Manchester’s Arndale Shopping Centre.

Kam toured with Taylor Swift on her record-breaking Eras Tour which hit UK venues including Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cardiff and Wembley – the latter including a record-breaking eight nights at Wembley Stadium. Kameron teased a clue with an image showing him in a scene from the ‘Opalite’ video in which he holds a judge’s panel with the number zero on it.

Manchester was not included on the Eras Tour, with the closest location for fans over at Liverpool’s Anfield Stadium. Taylor Swift last played Manchester during the Reputation Tour at the Etihad Stadium in 2018, so many fans will be hoping it might finally be time for the singer to come back to the city.

Taylor Swift and Spotify billboards also recently appeared in New York City’s Times Square to celebrate the launch of all her music videos on the streaming platform.

‘Danny Tommo’ is being investigated by police after he shared footage of himself slashing a dinghy in the English Channel while a rescuer was still on board. 

The anti-migrant activist – real name Daniel Thomas – brought his boat up alongside the dinghy after all the migrants on board had been picked up by the RNLI.

Seconds later, a French rescuer stepped onto the empty dinghy to secure it, before Thomas sliced through one side of it.

‘You’re on English territory. This is England, this is not France any more,’ he told the rescuer. 

He then shouted at the Frenchman to get off the dinghy and return to his own boat. 

‘Get off the boat, you’ve got time to get off the boat,’ he said several times before shouting ‘let’s go’ and sailing off. 

The 37-year-old told his online audience that he was heading towards Gosport – where a crowd of black-clad protesters from his group, Patriot Platform, were expecting the migrants to be taken ashore from lifeboats. 

But they were instead taken ashore at Dover early this morning after completing an unprecedented 38-hour voyage to the UK.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said they are ‘aware’ of the video, which appears to have been filmed at around 4pm. 

‘We are aware of a video circulating online relating to damage being caused to a boat in the English Channel on the afternoon of September 22, and we are conducting enquiries into the matter,’ a spokesman said. 

Seconds later, a French rescuer stepped onto the empty dinghy to secure it, before Thomas sliced through one side of it 

The French rescue worker did not react after the activist slashed the dinghy with a knife 

The migrants’ voyage started from Port-en-Bessin, north of Bayeux in Normandy, just before 10am on Monday, and the 51 migrants arrived in the Kent port after midnight following reports they had been bound for Gosport. 

It is thought to be the longest duration of any voyage undertaken by small-boat migrants – and it was branded a ‘fiasco’ by the Conservatives.

Following reports yesterday the dinghy was to dock in Hampshire’s Gosport, hundreds of protesters turned out in the town – and in nearby Portsmouth – but the effort dissipated after the boat was rerouted to Dover.

Hampshire Police described some of those who remained in Gosport thereafter as ‘hostile’ towards officers and said it arrested six people for offences including careless driving, assaulting an emergency worker and aggravated trespass.

Around a dozen protesters were seen in Dover as the migrants arrived and officers closed nearby roads in anticipation.

The dinghy incident raised serious questions over the effectiveness of Labour‘s £662million deal with the French to prevent crossings.

French authorities, who shadowed the dinghy across the Channel, said they decided not to intervene due to safety concerns.

As tides took the boat back towards the French coast on Monday evening, it was so close to shore another 10 to 15 migrants were able to board, it is claimed.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: ‘This latest fiasco shows that the French are not even trying to stop the illegal immigrants’ boats in French waters – instead they are escorting them here.

‘Our border security has descended into chaos with migrants crossing at will over ever larger distances and in ever larger boats.

‘The Government’s claim to smash the gangs is laughable and their deal with the French is clearly not working.

‘The Conservatives have a plan to end all accommodation and benefits for illegal immigrants, and instead deport them on arrival. Then, these farcical crossings would soon stop.’

Four French lifeboats plus the search-and-rescue tugboat Abeille Liberté, along with a French Navy helicopter, were scrambled to the 40ft dinghy’s location on Monday. A spokesman for local rescue services said: ‘The boat was in a very bad way, and very low in the water, with just a single small outboard motor to power it.

‘The sea was calm, and weather conditions were good, but the decision was taken to escort the boat, without intervening.’

The Abeille Liberté continued to follow the migrant boat yesterday morning and afternoon.

At about 4.30pm, the migrants were transferred from their dinghy to two RNLI lifeboats. Half an hour later, they switched to Border Force’s HMC Vigilant.

A mega-dinghy with at least 60 migrants on board began its 38-hour journey escorted by the French Navy

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Before the French sailors handed over to the RNLI in the Channel

Protesters – some wearing masks – gathered in Gosport and Portsmouth, Hampshire, as reports suggested the dinghy may dock nearby

Photos last night showed the migrants making their way into a Border Security Command compound in Dover

Hampshire Police said it made six arrests in Gosport after some protesters who remained on the streets became ‘hostile’ towards officers

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The cutter then headed towards Gosport but last night the town’s Conservative MP Dame Caroline Dinenage said she was ‘pleased’ Border Force had confirmed the migrants were instead being taken ‘to Dover by water as we asked’.

She added: ‘This must now set a clear precedent. If further boats are intercepted in our part of the Channel, they should be taken straight to Dover.’

Hampshire Police said it was investigating a reported slashing of a boat in the Channel after a video appearing to show the attack was posted on social media.

Migrants are normally processed at Manston, near Ramsgate. This incident comes just over two weeks after a mega-dinghy with 120 migrants aboard was brought into Eastney Marina, three miles from Portsmouth’s main harbour, sparking protests.

The Daily Mail reported yesterday how a migrant boat reached Folkestone in Kent without being intercepted by UK Border Force.

The migrants then arrived in Dover at around midnight.  

Defence minister Luke Pollard said a Home Office investigation was under way.

Up to Sunday, 17,480 migrants have arrived via the Channel this year.

A Government spokesman said: ‘The Border Security Command works around the clock to protect our border and will continue to detain, check and process every small boat arrival.’

Part of Atherton Road is closed following a crash involving a police car.

Greater Manchester Police says it was called out to the scene at around 8.30am.

It followed a collision involving two cars, including a GMP one which was responding to another incident on blue lights.

There are not currently thought to have been any serious injuries caused by the crash.

It’s the second time part of the road has been shut in less than 24 hours, following a fatal motorbike crash on Tuesday.

Updates will follow in this blog.

Essie Loftus is awaiting a heart transplant

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A “happy” girl whose stomach pain turned out to be a sign her heart was failing now has a mechanical heart pumping blood for her while she waits for a transplant. Her parents, Annemarie, 41, and Michael, 46, said she began showing “subtle” changes in 2024, including not wanting to cycle to school and being “chubbier” than her siblings.

Annemarie and Michael, from Dublin, noticed Essie, seven, had “lost her spark” the following summer. By March 2026, she had developed worsening stomach pain, exhaustion and vomiting, and was initially diagnosed with constipation.

As her condition continued to worsen, further tests uncovered that she had hybrid cardiomyopathy, a rare heart condition that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood, which explained her earlier symptoms.

She was subsequently transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London after medical staff warned that she would likely require a heart transplant to survive. In order to keep her heart functioning while she awaits a donor organ, Essie was placed on an advanced life-support system for 12 days before being fitted with a Berlin Heart mechanical pump on May 5.

Now, with Michael and Annemarie dividing their time between London and Dublin while also caring for their two other children, Ayla, 13, and Cael, four, young Essie takes around 25 medicines each day as she waits for a new heart.

Annemarie, a Montessori teacher, told PA Real Life: “When I see Essie with the biggest smile on her face, or she’s got some story to tell me about winding up the doctors, you just think to yourself, ‘If she can get through this all, then so can we’.”

Michael, a streaming media engineer, added: “She’s an inspiration to us every day.”

Essie had always been constantly “running around” and “cheeky”. However, at the age of four in 2024, her parents Annemarie and Michael began noticing some “subtle” shifts in her behaviour, including becoming “very concerned” about whether they would drive or cycle to school.

They also noted she appeared “a bit chubbier” than their other two children, though they did not think “too much of it” at the time. By the summer of 2025, the couple felt that Essie had “lost her spark” and sought the help of a play therapist, though she appeared to be “was fine”.

Despite this, Essie continued to seem not “quite herself” and by March 2026 she had started “complaining” of stomach pains.

Annemarie added: “She was saying that she was tired and wanted to go to bed early, which wasn’t like her. We took her to the St Patrick’s Day parade and she wanted to be carried and not stand. It just got worse – over the next day or two she started vomiting and couldn’t keep anything down.”

At the end of March, the couple took their daughter to their GP, who diagnosed her with constipation and prescribed medication. However, when her condition failed to improve over the following days, they brought her to their local children’s hospital, where she received the same diagnosis.

Annemarie and Michael had a “feeling” that “something wasn’t right”, prompting them to return to hospital, where she underwent a series of tests, including an ultrasound, electrocardiogram (ECG) and X-ray. Just hours later, on April 15, a meeting with the cardiac nurse specialist and chief cardiologist confirmed it was “something serious”.

Michael recalled: “They told me separately to Annemarie that they thought Essie had restrictive cardiomyopathy. I didn’t know what that meant, but they mentioned the word transplant, and of course, in between going in and out the room, I Googled it, and that was probably the worst day of my life. It wasn’t a good day.”

Restrictive cardiomyopathy, as described by the NHS, is a condition in which the walls of the heart’s main chambers become stiff and rigid, preventing them from relaxing properly after contracting and stopping the heart from filling with blood adequately. According to the National Library of Medicine, the average survival rate following diagnosis is estimated at between two to five years.

Essie was admitted to intensive care before undergoing a cardiac catheterisation to assess her heart function. The couple revealed her diagnosis was subsequently changed to hybrid cardiomyopathy, meaning she displayed signs of both restrictive and dilated cardiomyopathy, and that treatment was a viable option.

In dilated cardiomyopathy, the muscular walls of the heart become stretched and thin, preventing them from squeezing properly to circulate blood around the body, according to the NHS. This explained Essie’s exhaustion, and the condition can also cause swelling, which accounted for her appearing “chubbier” than her siblings, as well as stomach pain, as a weakened heart causes fluid to accumulate in the digestive organs.

Three days later, she underwent additional tests to determine whether she was eligible for a mechanical heart at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and was confirmed as a suitable candidate. The mechanical heart, known as a Berlin Heart Ventricular Assist Device (VAD), is used to support children suffering severe heart failure while awaiting a heart transplant.

It takes over the function of a child’s own heart when it becomes too weak to pump sufficient amounts of blood to the lungs and around their body, according to Great Ormond Street Hospital.

“We were just trembling, sitting there, holding each other, shaking with fear and anxiety and everything you can imagine,” Michael said. “Eventually they came and told us, and we were just so happy and relieved.”

However, in the long run, Michael and Annemarie would need to alternate between one of them remaining at Great Ormond Street Hospital with Essie while the other stayed in Dublin with their other children.

“It was very difficult to accept, but it meant saving Essie – we had a good cry and we knew it was something we needed to do,” Michael said.

Within days, Essie was airlifted from Dublin to Great Ormond Street and placed on an advanced life-support system that temporarily pumps and oxygenates a patient’s blood outside the body for 12 days before receiving the mechanical heart on May 5.

Annemarie said: “It’s horrific to watch your child go through something like that. Essie has been through some things adults will never, ever go through. When she got on to the Berlin Heart, we just felt like we’re one step closer to transplant and she got her spark back.”

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Essie remained in intensive care for several weeks following the procedure, with her parents beside her, and gradually started to recover her strength. While in intensive care, they received news of a matching donor for transplant, but were subsequently told the tissue wasn’t suitable and they couldn’t go ahead, leaving them “so disappointed”. Yet Michael and Annemarie credit Essie’s “character” with helping her survive the experience.

Michael said: “We always said her sassiness and sense of humour will do her well when she’s older, we just didn’t realise that she was going to need it so soon.”

In June 2026 Annemarie’s mother died and she felt she did not “get time to grieve” while worrying about Essie, balancing care for her other children and making repeated trips between Dublin and London.

“It’s all just been so tough, and I don’t know if I’ve processed it all, I feel like maybe I will years later,” she said. “I believe there will be some major breakdowns once this is over, but it’s just about putting one foot in front of another for now.”

Currently, Essie undergoes regular wound dressing changes and monitoring, taking approximately 25 medications daily. The Berlin Heart VAD features a plastic pump or chamber positioned outside the body, with the air-filled section connected through a lengthy plastic tube to a driving unit that Essie wheels alongside her.

She receives bedside schooling at Great Ormond Street for an hour each day and interacts with other children and nursing staff, frequently pretending to be a nurse on the ward.

“The team have just been incredible at making life feel as normal as possible, and there are parents here that all understand what we’re going through,” Michael added.

Michael will remain at Great Ormond Street until Essie can receive a transplant, though they “have no idea” when that might be. “It’s just a waiting game for us and our little girl now,” Michael said.

For more information, visit gosh.nhs.uk and organdonation.nhs.uk

The UK will grow by less than expected next year amid the ongoing US-Israel war in Iran, an international agency has said.

It is one of many countries whose economic prospects are facing a hit due to the prolonged conflict, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said.

The downgrade to the UK’s economic growth outlook is moderate, according to the OECD, which predicted it will grow by 1% in 2027, against an earlier forecast of 1.1%.

The agency also upgraded the UK’s growth outlook for 2026, from an expected 0.9% to 1.1% for the year.

The prediction comes as Chancellor John Healey prepares to deliver his first Budget at the end of October.

In the short-term, UK growth in 2026 is expected to be higher than the OECD predicted in June after “solid domestic demand growth”.

But it will be lower than predicted in 2027 as higher fuel prices eat into growth. The effects of this depend on how long supply disruptions last, it said.

Risks to the global economy include the war in the middle east and climate-change related supply shocks, the OECD said.

Next year, global growth is expected to also be 0.1% lower, with countries affected including Australia, Canada, and the Euro-area.

Conflict in the Middle East has contributed to higher oil and gas prices globally, pushing up inflation in countries including the UK.

Weather-related shocks, including from a strong El Nino, could hit farmers and help push up food prices, it added.