CAA recommends the use of QNH at all times with QFE available on request
Do you have a reference for that?
My experience is that the majority of UK civil airfields use QFE for circuit and VFR arrival traffic, and QNH for departing and IFR traffic. That's what was happening here.
There are airfields using QNH for VFR circuit and arriving traffic, but in my experience, they're still in the minority.
G