Payment solutions for the UK

I'm struggling to find a payment solution for my UK based startup. I don't intend to sell internationally for a considerable amount of time. I do have a turnover and can probably satisfy merchant account requirements, but I'm confused about almost all of it. For reference, I need fixed single payments and the ability to have variable subscription billing. Most of my turnover comes from contracting at present, and as such I don't have much money to devote to this.

I've considered the following, and the reasons for my confusion are included

• PayPal Website Payments Pro (too expensive; subscriptions seem to double the cost)
• WorldPay (objectionable setup costs, not sure I like it as a potential customer; can't find any implementation documentation - is it just a gateway?)
• SagePay (don't know enough about it, and confused by their website; not sure I like it as a customer; seems not to be just a gateway, but not sure)
• Google Checkout (not sure if I can do variable subscription billing; too much conflicting documentation and information online)

I'm looking for something as simple as possible, preferably all in one - if I need a merchant account then I can probably satisfy the requirements, but that introduces another level of confusion - who to go with? I'm happy to do the programming to integrate whatever solution with my website(s), but I need good, clear, concise documentation and that seems to be lacking in most of the things I've seen.

Does anybody have any insights into this, as I am beginning to tear my hair out over it.

Take a look at Cashflows.com. They are a payment processor and gateway. They have very low set-up fees and sometimes you can get it set up for free! The monthly and transaction fees are also lower than PayPal!

Try FastSpring, they are the payment processor I use and it is pretty easy to setup and get going. I've been impressed with their service. You only pay commission when you sell, so setting up an account and playing around will help you decide. You can also test your store to fine tune it before you go live.

Take a look at http://www.realexpayments.co.uk/ They charge a monthly fee, but they don't take anything off your transactions. It makes much more sense when you have high-volume of on-line sales and very thin profit margin.