Thanks for your inputs guys. This is an awful lot of aeroplane for half Bonanza money so I would be willing to tolerate the T-tail handling quirks. It would be operated from a large airport but we occasionally visit the 600m strip (2 up with half fuel) and I've had 310s in there before.
How much fuel are you guys burning? 17gph giving 150 kts indicated? And what are you paying for annuals? £3000? Engine replacement for an IO-540 £22000?
Does the gear give you a lot of recurring problems?
I am guessing with the costs here so would appreciate any more experiences. Found a great site Piper owners.com but not much UK input.