Really these don't look that bad for the money if you've got nothing too ambitious planned.

Black Cat CNC Machine 600x400mm cut area. EU Support / Warranty | eBay

A chinese 6040 works out at what? About £1200ish including the shipping charges? For a couple of hundred more these look to have better electronics all housed in tidy enclosure, are from a UK source and they've obviously stripped down the machine to paint it so maybe quality control is better than some chinese kid on a bowl of rice a day cranking these things out. Don't know what blackcat support is like but even if its nil then they're on a par with the chinese!

Not saying this is the best for your ~£1500 but it does look like an option providing your cutting ambitions are modest.