Thanks for the input everyone - in the end I opted for the ERSA RDS-80 and what a joy it is to use. I've programmed in the standby and auto off, but the ability just to nip in to the work room, switch on the iron and know that within 30-40 seconds it's up to temperature for soldering is great. The soldering iron is a nice comfortable size and the standard tip supplied seems fine for 7mm. It's really nice to invest in a quality piece of kit which I know will serve for many years. Hopefully I'll get round to posting some of my efforts later on.
Adrian