Thanks for the prompt reply. I transferred all my funds to Coinbase via BACS so there were no fees there or foreign currency fees. It was literally purchase fees that Coinbase charge to enact the transaction. I get that's how they make money for the service they provide, and I'm fine with that. However, long term its not a feasible way of transacting.

How does the P2P transacting work then in a practical sense? How would one go about purchasing Bitcoin via P2P? What tools, site(s), method would someone follow?

Dont worry, I'm not going to jump in and do it, I'm just trying to understand how it all works