Hatton's has been very good thus far in so far as my inquiries are concerned, very prompt and to the point replies. Yep you are right when you say they remove the UK VAT for orders from outside of the UK, or at least to the US which is a savings as well.
Looking forward to getting the order and more importantly, to see how long it really does take them to process and ship. Based on what they told me (via email) and from what other have said, I should have my order by Monday the 23rd and that is as good (and sometimes better) than buying from within the US.