Michael,
Where were you before?
If I was in your situation, I would first check out any hackerspaces.
DIYBio is still pretty small in UK,
-london biohackers in london hackerspace, (just got there license for GM! Woo) Well worth a visit
http://biohackspace.org/-DIYMCR(Manchester) that has done a heap of projects in the past, and is getting set up for cool stuff in the future.
-Me up in Maker Space (Newcastle) building a lab (and doing fermentations of elder berry/blossom in the meanwhile) at
http://makerspace.org.uk
Cheers,
Brian