I don't know how many replies you are going to get as I think the vast majority of people on this site are American's. You may want to ask your question in one of the UK forums.

However, in my opinion if you are only going to be there for a year, you could do a whole lot worse, especially if jobs are hard to come by. I joined ERAC in the early nineties during a recession and worked there for two years until I could find a better job. Eventually I was able to go back to school after leaving ERAC and position myself in the IT industry.