The costs don't appear to have changed much over the last 5 years from what I've seen. One way I can think of to save money on the PPL is to fly with a club that has a membership fee that includes circuit and landing charges. I spent over £2k on circuits and landings alone. It's not something I even considered before starting training.
There are some benefits to learning at busier commercial airports but you don't get any training benefit from watching jets take-off and land whilst paying £2.50/min.
If I were to do it all again I'd probably start with gliding and then take the SLMG/NPPL route and later upgrade as required to a full PPL. Won't ultimately save you much over a cheap straight PPL but it will give you a better range of experience and would probably be more fun.