Due to finances I was always going to go the modular way. I did my PPL, Night rating and what was then the UK IMC rating at a local flying club. ATPL Theory was done distance learning with Bristol GS.
I had picked out a couple of schools I was interested in to do my CPL and MEIR (I wanted to do them at the same place) in the UK, and visited them. I had a fair idea of where I wanted to go and was trying to sort out aircraft rental for hour building when I received a price from a lesser known European FTO to do the CPL and MEIR as well as hour building and accommodation included for a lower cost than just the CPL/MEIR would have been in the UK. I visited them to make sure it wasn't absolute nonsense and decided to go there, primarily due to cost. The FTO was bought over not long after I finished, and no longer exists in a recognisable way.