If you are planning on waxing then you will need to polish the paint before hand - by hand SRP is good or similar. Absolutely no point spending money and applying untill you have.
For £35 then you can get Chemical Guys 50/50 which is a great all rounder and SRP.
£300...a certain other wax costs over £7000!!! But you do get free refills for life though - a sensible purchase if you ask me
If you are new to looking after the condition of your car then I would concentrate on polishing before waxing - thats where you will get the best improvements. If you took 2 swirled cars, polished one with a decent process, and waxed the other - even with the £7000 wax - the polished one would look better.
Victoria Concourse Red Wax. £18
Durable when layered, superb gloss with 2 coats too.
Swissvax Onyx or Megs #16 for winter...
Giles, did you get any of the products we recommended to you in this thread: http://www.cliosport.net/forum/showthread.php?t=275718
i have just ordered onyx after ali used it on mine.