A belated update on my string situation...
I’ve ended up with a set of Preludes from my local shop - Bristol Violin Shop. They fitted the strings, shaped the nut and improved the setup all for a very reasonable £130.
It’s still not a great instrument- certain notes buzz pretty badly and the strings aren’t particularly well tonally matched but it’s much more fun to play now and my bass playing is coming on quickly which is the most important thing!