I got my grinder (thanks guys for your advice) and espresso machine. I searched with the infamous google for coffee sellers and I got lots of sellers - about fifty! Therefore, could any UK espresso lovers advise me which to choose?

See Quality coffees in the UK for [slightly dated] recommendations. Also note that while approximately half of HB's visitors are from outside the US, you may want to check out dedicated European forum Too Much Coffee and CoffeeGeek's United Kingdom regional forum.

Square Mile, Hasbean, James Gourmet Coffee would be the three that come to mind most readily.

All three of those are good roasters

I'd strongly recommend Londonium Espresso as well, who have a distinctive roasting style of their own, especially if you like sweet nutty single origins They also have one of the very best Sidamos in the UK and an excellent chocolatey Javan

And if you like chocolatey you may also want to give James Gourmet's Guatamalans a go

Cheers

Mike

Coffeebeanshop.co.uk is also worth a try. They have less selection than Hasbean, Londinium and James Gourmet but that does make it easier to choose

I'm adding Union to this list.

I'm afraid I never took them that seriously, having seen (but never tried) their vacuum-pack offerings in supermarkets. But they also do a roast-to-order service from their internet site (http://www.unionroasted.com/quickshop.aspx) and from it I have had some of the finest roasts I have enjoyed in the UK. In my opinion their roasts have a finesse lacking in many other popular "gourmet" roasters. Their Yemeni and Ethiopian SOs are truly excellent. I'll be trying some of their other beans - Colombian and Brazilian amongst others - over the next few days and will write up if they wow me as much as the Yemen Harazi, which I'd recommend thoroughly, alongside their Yirgacheffe Harforsa (currently very understandably out of stock).

And as if that weren't already enough to constitute a strong recommendation, they also have very strong social and environmental responsibility credentials and provide great service.

They and Londinium are currently the top of the tree in the UK in my opinion.

I am very happy with Smith's coffee company in Hemel Hempstead. They have all sorts of coffee and their own Crema blend is fantastic. Also, they sell green beans if you like.

All the best!