for now, given what I'm doing - "UK style IFR" in class G, it sounds as though an autopilot is not a necessity
If you considerably modify the "3hrs" bit then I agree
You still want a really good GPS, moving map obviously, to keep the workload down.
The way to fly around the UK is to plan every flight as IFR, fly it as IFR navigationally, and if you end up in VMC then that's a bonus. This is routinely done on the IMC Rating, and this is what I was doing when I got the IMCR, and what I still do with the IR - I don't bother to fly airways for short (say 150nm) hops around the UK. A lot of the time one ends up in VMC but if the flight was planned as IFR from the start, one avoids the "I must remain below the cloud" scud running mentality which really is dangerous.
BTW flying into some place like Gatwick is nothing special. Well, the landing fee is very special, so special you want to make a copy of the logbook entry and frame it. At some airports (not Gatwick) the place is so big you need to do fuel planning for the taxi to the GA apron