After 2 emails I've committed and I've sent a cheque to wiserhosting.com and reg'd the domain with their promoted domain registrar; 123-reg.co.uk - so I'm fairly committed I suppose!

The clincher was Wiserhosting's prompt email responses over the weekend and also their offer to allow me access to their SMTP servers (for non-commercial use) if I was stuck for an SMTP alternative - this is all for the princely annual sum of £27, I'm impressed, very impressed!

Obviously, I'll want your home telephone number if it all goes horribly wrong, j/k!

Seriously, thanks (and to everyone else too) for helping me here

Cheers
Andrew