My advice;
Polish up the credit rating and eliminate any outstanding debts. Provided you have a reasonably well paid and 'secure' (This bit turned about to be a joke for me...) job that you have been in for over twelve months, then I don't forsee a problem.
I was working as an Airworthiness Engineer around two years ago, on a salary that was slightly above the national average with an 'excellent' credit rating. I managed to obtain £20,000 from Santander with monthly repayments of around £475 a month. It's a lot, but I don't have any family finances to back me and I could not go secured.
I was also open and honest about what I was planning on doing with the money. The most that can be obtained 'unsecured' in the UK is £25,000 and I believe that can be taken over seven years - but not many banks do this.
All the best!
