syf277,
Your question seems to be about the poor state of for hire aircraft in the UK. A comment I would agree with. Hire aircraft are fine for a local bimble but for going anywhere on a schedule are terrible. However, there are plenty of group aircraft around the UK. As a freshly minted PPL you should probably join a group, build some time and experience and decide what type of flying you want to do. Maybe try out a couple of aircraft and decide on what you want to achieve with flying and how much you want to spend.
Once you have decided your path - then, if the machine you are looking at is £100k + I would definitely look at the US market as well as the European. There is a much much bigger choice in the US and with the current exchange rate some deals to be had. However, there are considerable ferry costs and re-registration costs (or trust costs and some longer term risks if you keep it N)