Many thanks all for the info - Sorry if I stirred up a hornets nest
I've forwarded museum type posts to the man charged with moving the engine, and for now, it's wait and see - if anyone wants to make an offer, I think we'd be keen to see it remain in the UK but can be contacted on the above address, minus the spam trap (I don't post my work address because I already get tons of junk mail, but we're Loughborough University Engineering Dept)
I know how collectable machinery may go adrift from barns, sheds etc, so to save the trouble of any lurkers who may not have announced themselves, all of the buildings containing our kit, wanted or otherwise have 24 hour security patrols, barrier controlled vehicle access to the site, and full CCTV.
I would also like to say what a good group this is - I often lurk and read the posts and having use of various engines (which I ought to look after better I imagine) for mundane tasks like rotivating, it's very encouraging to see people preserving our engineering heritage.