Lego® Brick Hospital unveiled at the Great Brick Adventure

A replica Hospital, made entirely from LEGO® bricks and one of the largest constructions of its kind in the UK, is set to be unveiled at Exhibition Centre Liverpool. The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity has commissioned the Big LEGO® Brick Hospital, which will consist of half a million LEGO® bricks, to raise money for its new centre, currently under construction in Liverpool City Centre.

Members of the public are being asked to buy a brick for a ₤1 donation for the fundraising campaign, which aims to raise ₤500,000.

Now the structure will go on display for the 1st time at Exhibition Centre Liverpool as part of:- 'The Great Brick Adventure' which takes place this August Bank Holiday.

'Bright Bricks' is constructing the model, using an army of local volunteers, and is also bringing:- 'The Great Brick Adventure' to the waterfront venue, sister venue of Echo Arena.

The model, which when complete will measure 1.6m x 2.8m x 1.6m high, will be on display to the public for the 1st time for the launch of the exhibition on 25 August 2018. It will contain more than 100 rooms replicating a Hospital including:- 150 beds, kitchens and MRI scanners. Each bed is made up of 49 bricks equalling a total of 7350 bricks just for the beds alone. There will also be 200 mini figures; such as nurses, doctors and construction workers; in the completed model. It will be one of the biggest LEGO® structures in the UK and the first ever Hospital of its kind to be made from LEGO® bricks in the world.

Katrina Bury, head of The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity, said:- "We are really excited to be part of The Great Brick Adventure where people will get to see the model for the first time. We have been overwhelmed by the donations so far which have allowed us, in partnership with Bright Bricks, to construct the foundations of the model Hospital and the beginnings of the Radiotherapy department. We are sure LEGO brick fans at the event will love seeing the model and getting involved in the build while raising much needed funds to help transform cancer care."

'The Great Brick Adventure' will include 3 interactive zones; more than 80 life sized animals, such as:- Earl Grey the Elephant, Harriet the Hippo and Rocky the Penguin will be on display in the:- 'Safari Zone,' which will also include:- 'Brick Pits' for children to play in.

Sound and smoke effects surround the interactive:- 'Mythical Beasts' zone with heroes, monsters and even a life sized dragon.

Meanwhile watch the Warriorbots battle it out in combat in a specially constructed arena and take aim with your catapult as you try and 'Feed the Frogs.'

Ben Williams, commercial director of The ACC Liverpool Group, which includes Exhibition Centre Liverpool, said:- "The Great Brick Adventure will enable members of the public to see the Big LEGO® Brick Hospital, as part of a fantastic interactive exhibition, which is coming to the region for the 1st time. We hope visitors will make a donation to Clatterbridge’s fundraising campaign while enjoying everything the event has to offer, from a polar bear to tigers to a giant pit where kids can make their own LEGO® brick creations."

The Clatterbridge Cancer Charity is working to raise a total of ₤15 million towards the construction of the new specialist cancer Hospital in Liverpool City Centre and improvements to the Wirral site. The new Hospital is due to open in 2020.

If you would like to buy a LEGO Brick for ₤1 and help transform cancer care please go to:- BigLegoBrickHospital.Org.UK or call:- 0151 556 5566.

The Great Brick Adventure runs from Saturday, 25 August to Monday, 27 August 2018. Advance discounted tickets are priced at:- ₤39.80 for a family of 4, ₤13.95 for an adult ticket and ₤11.95 for a child. On the day tickets are priced at:- ₤49.80 for a family, ₤16.95 for an adult ticket and ₤14.95 for a child ticket. Ages 3 and under go free to the event. For tickets go to the Liverpool ACC website.

Leading US ecommerce platform BigCommerce announces launch of London European HQ

DESPITE concerns about Brexit, the UK remains the top tech hub in Europe for investors, with 80% of all money invested in the UK since 2016 coming from tech firms. And as the worldwide e-commerce boom continues, leading US e-commerce platform BigCommerce is contributing to London's growth in this sector as it sets up shop in the UK. Having recently closed a $64 million investment round led by Goldman Sachs to accelerate BigCommerce's international expansion, London was the company's 1st choice for establishing a strong foothold in Europe.

BigCommerce powers B2B and B2C ecommerce for more than 50,000 SMB's, 2,000+ mid market businesses, more than 25 Fortune 1000 companies, and industry leading brands including Ben and Jerry's, Paul Mitchell, Sony and Toyota. The plan is for BigCommerce London to employ up to 20 staff members by the summer of 2019.

The Europe HQ will provide local support to its impressive roster of UK based clients and to expand its reach across Europe. Current clients in the region include start ups and established companies such as:- Awesome GTI, Kier Limited, Olive, clothing brands Yumi International, Physiq Apparel, Silly Socks, Trust Ford and Tabitha Simmons.

Brent Bellm, CEO of BigCommerce says:- "We serve a growing, international community of retailers and we want to provide the best possible service to all our customers. Establishing a presence in Europe has long been an aspiration of ours, and this London office will allow us to deliver more tailored programmes to our customers and partners across Europe."

BigCommerce is also increasingly attracting clients switching from Shopify and Magento to the platform, which is optimised for scaling up in a way that its competitors cannot do.

When Awesome GTI migrated from Magento to launch a B2B channel, they saw a 96% year on year revenue growth as they no longer had to spend time maintaining a system that was cumbersome and inefficient. They didn't even consider Shopify because it seemed to them to be geared towards small scale businesses.

Wayne Ainsworh, the ecommerce manager at Awesome GTI says:- "We'd been with Magento for several years, but there came a point when we realised that the platform wasn't optimised for what we were trying to do anymore. Plus we were never quite sure if that data from that system was 100% accurate. We needed a hosted platform that allowed us to focus on the marketing rather than being tied up with system maintenance. Switching to BigCommerce has helped us fundamentally change the way we do things online and has helped get us to where we are today."

BigCommerce is the world's leading cloud ecommerce platform for established and rapidly growing businesses. Combining enterprise functionality, an open architecture and app ecosystem, and market leading performance, BigCommerce enables businesses to grow online sales with 80% less cost, time and complexity than on premise software.

With the opening of the London Office, BigCommerce will have global offices in:- Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.