For £500.00, you could buy a whole compact stereo system from any number of companies, which will sound better than the Bose (assuming you're trial unit is a Bose "Wave" tabletop radio). The Bose is a moderate sounding unit with jacked-up bass.... compared to old fashioned table radios, it sounds good largely because they lack any real bass. But compared to modern designs, it's way overpriced.
A bookshelf system is your best bet if you have the room but still want something small-ish. Here are some UK-based "bookshelf" component alternatives:
http://www.avreview.co.uk/news/article/mps/uan/991
These take up more room than the Bose, but support DAB and they're both lower cost and better sounding, in particularly because, with detached speakers, you have the option of a much wider sound field.
If you really want a tabletop radio, you can get something that sounds about as good for much, much less. I like anything from Boston Acoustics over Bose, though they've also become a little trendy (read: pricey) in recent years. The only BA CD unit I know of is the MicroSystem CD, which has somewhat mixed reviews (though generally better than the Bose).
Not sure what you can find in the UK, but the Teac-GR10i has a great reputation, for under US$100. Another great sounding unit is the Tivoli M2TPE, which is a two-box unit, but sounds far better than the Bose for about half the price... and I'm pretty certain there are European versions of the Tivoli, and it has one of the best tuners you'll find anywhere. Cambridge Soundworks has a number of excellent tabletops... the SoundWorks i765 plays CD and DVD, includes an iPod port, sound better than the Bose, and runs around half the price.