Ok, another potentially useless update bt here we go...

I just called customer services with a specific order number and asked for a status on the order rather than a generic N900 availability request.

The lady on the other end tapped away before coming back with an answer that they would start shipping to end customers on Monday 23rd November. (Make of that what you will).

I asked for who they were using to courier in the UK and was told my express shipment was via UPS and that they would be emailing the tracking numbers out after the initial 'we are shipping' email.

Hope this is of some interest to someone!