Advice needed - low’ish budget ’starter’ cnc..

Hi
I’ve followed a few posts regarding cheaper cnc kits and particularly the workbee/Sahpeoko type machines and their limitations. I run a kitchen/cabinet making business and want to introduce some form of cnc capability into the workshop.
Following a long term lay off due to health issues the business is slowly rebuilding and cash is currently too tight to splash out on a pro or even semi-pro 8x4 machine. Current budget is probably only £3.5k max so have been looking at Workbee or even Shaper.. I think we’d rather go the gantry route as this will be part of a learning curve towards a better future solution which would enable full sheet processing. I guess at the moment a 1500x1500 or possibly 1000x1000 machine would suit if only to help with jig manufacture and some repetitive operations. I've also seen videos of people using cnc's to cut dovetails via a vertical support table.
While fascinated by the whole world of cnc I don’t have the time to build from scratch - I understand some of the forum members make CNC’s for clients and wondered what their thoughts were and even whether they could improve on the workbee/shapeoko type offerings while not straying too far away from the £3500 budget. If this sort of budget is simply too low perhaps you could advise how much a decent ’starter’ machine might actually cost..
Thanks