hi F N.
As the licence you get will be JAA, not UK, ever thought of doing it in another JAA member country? several english courses around, eg. Spain, Germany (JAA from May), Czech Republic (so I have heard), and of course in the US. Unfortunately not here in Ireland.
If you do want to get a 73 rating, cheaper option by far would be CSA (national Czech carrier) for the classic or some place in Bremen/Germany, they charged €21000 for the classic and NG combined in February.
expect to pay €100 in schools in Eastern Europe for SEP training and €130 in the West. Don't know though how that compares to the UK.
hope this helps.