This book (includes a link for freely downloading a PDF) might give you some ideas for making your workbench more useful. Measurements are in feet and inches because it’s written by a guy in Kentucky, but that’s not going to stop anyone in the UK.

https://lostartpress.com/products/the-anarchists-workbench

I have a woodworking project on hold because I can't decide how to do the joins.

DIY around the house is so much fun. Over the years I've built picture frames, shelves, cabinet doors, even a bed frame.

If I could offer one piece of advice to those interested: Understand that for nearly every project you see on Youtube where some dude is using a whole workshop full of power tools, you can build a LOT with a few small tools and proper technique. Don't get sucked into the mindset of, I want to build a few projects, therefore I need $2000 worth of new power tools.

You can do quite a lot with just a couple of hand saws (one for cross-cutting, one for ripping), a square, and a drill. The next step up would be a table saw, miter saw, and circular saw for time savings and increased precision. Much more than that is leaning into the territory of fine woodworking. Learning how to build your own jigs for specific tasks will save you hundreds or thousands in lieu of specialized tools.