Thx for the feedback, one thing is for sure i'm not going to touch the high street banks, crap interest rates and they charge just to manage the account!!!!
Its close between abbey and A & L as abbey seems simpler as you don't need to deposit £1000 per month, but A & L has a flat rate of 4% which seems the best in the mkt...I used to be with cator allen in another life but they haven't got interent banking and they require a minimum balance of 5k and their I.R.'s aren't as good as A & L...so my instinct is A & L..........