Hi Maurice,
Welcome to 5 Star. We look forward to your participation in some discussions.
You asked: "heres a starter for 10 - why is it so difficult to find/join/set up at the moment in the UK affiliate marketing schemes for smaller businesses with b2b focus?"
Well for starters B2B affiliate programs are just tough. They are a different breed than B2C, not as popular to general affiliates and much harder to recruit for. NOTE: These are all VERY general statements. Some B2B programs are easier than others.
When it comes to any questions regarding UK affiliate marketing I like to refer people to the UK affiliate forum which is filled with more specific UK info. We have lots of UK marketers here too and I love to talk UK marketing, but since I don't live there I'm not an expert like the guys at the UK forum are.
http://www.a4uforum.co.uk/ I'm sure you've been there and looked around?