Thanks for eveyones input so far.

I have just had a quick google looking for the UCN8504B driver chips, could not find any UK suppliers, I did find a guy one eBay selling them, but wants £7.65 Each plus £3.75 for postage, so a min of £26.70 for 3 IC's.

Also wile I was on eBay I had a quick look at the prebuilt driver boards, most where from China/Hong Kong and only supports voltages upto 24volts.

I know going down the PIC route will cost more then a prebuilt driver, but at least once I have got the programmer I can use it for any other projects I might have.