IMC a very good idea !
As stated above the airlines don't give a toss about the IMC but your bank balance might!
In my 31 years in the aviation business the IMC was the one of hardest things that I have done (the other was the A320 ground engineers course) learning to fly on instruments is something that is totaly new to you and no matter how much "microsoft" time you have there is no substitute for real flying.
Having got IMC the training for the IR was just practice and getting a bit more polish on the performance.
Take a hard look at the cost of an hour or two of extra training on a twin at the end of the CPL course and you will see that the IMC at flying club rates is a very good buy.
Why not take a week and do the IMC on the Channel Islands and take advantage of the low tax, lack of VAT and the well equiped airfields with a lot of IFR traffic, now that would be a good start towards an IR without breaking the bank.