Well, I thought I'd let you know the outcome so far.
I bought a second hand BCD (Seaquest Diva LX, fits beautifully and should have plenty of lift for what I'm doing at the moment) and will wait to get a wing when I really need one (i.e. when I've spent enough time on YD, sorry I mean done enough diving, to decide I need twins or at least a pony on my cylinder and therefore a bit more lift).
I went for the aqualung regs in the end. I had just fallen in love with them and they are highly recommended by a friend in my club who has them. I bought them online in the end (Kent diving - v. good price and helpful as long as you phone rather than e-mailing). I am feeling rather guilty at not buying either item from my local dive shop but to be fair they don't stock either.
I am going to go into my LDS next week (bite the bullet and confess to having bought the aqualung regs if I have to) and get myself a new reel (my current one is ridiculous, I should never have bought it - anyone want a very small reel prone to tangling as you reel it in??).
I am going to put all my regs together now (assuming I finally have the right size spanner - why oh why is it the one missing from most standard sets?) then test them out in the pool on Monday during my Sports Diver training. If all goes well then the first dive of the season will be with my new kit from Plymouth next weekend
Thanks so much for all your help. I'm sorry for ignoring all the reccomendations of Apeks regs - personal predjudice on my part I guess! I'll let you know how it goes.