ended up just getting b'twin 500 mountain bike shoes from good old decathlon.
seem pretty comfy from the off, fairly cheap £45ish, 3 good velcro straps and seem to be able to walk about OK in them.
I avoided the 520 version with the plastic ratchet strap as it didn't seem necessary and had read about them being a bit delicate and breaking.
So far so good and even managed to do my first ride with cleats on without taking a punter fall!