Thanks for the advice fellas, I'm not looking to build my own as not really that way inclined, would prefer to buy readymade, I find the whole CNC thing extremely fascinating and definately want to explore further. £1000ish is well within my budget, so at least have a staring point there. I guess the next step is to actually see one in the flesh and see what I would get for my money, as said before I only want to do text and the odd bit of decorative stuff, nothing too elaborate.
I read there was model fair at Harrogate demonstrating hobbyist CNC's, I'll have to check around to see where the next demos are.

Many thanks again for your friendly advice.

NSJ