Thanks Kiwi Chick - I'm doing my PPL purely for the love of it without it being a means to an aviation career.
However, I've always been interested becoming an ATC and when I read through the job application I noticed on the application it was asking for any flight crew licensing details and was wondering if that did provide a leg up.
So I guess I should apply now regardless of where I'm at with my PPL.
At 45 I'm heartened by the exchange yourself and stevep64's experiences.