Bead research is advancing all the time!
as you are in UK, I recommend joining the Bead Society of Great Britain which although many members are primarily hobbyists and jewellery makers, we also cater for collectors, and our acclaimed colour-illustrated journal comes out 3 or 4 times a year, with lots of news including research, symposiums, reviews of museums, fairs, shows, exhibitions and books.

And since you are obviously really seriously interested you should probably also join the Society of Bead Researchers which includes many archaeologists and academics among its members. a journal is also produced by SBR with in-depth reports on various research projects.

Various groups such as these are to be found on the links page of BCN-

Some of us who participate at Beadcollector.net have also written books or articles about aspects of the subject of beads. Constant new discoveries enlarge and update our knowledge all the time.

Do you know the beads in museums in UK? whether they are accurately labelled or not, there's a lot to see in the Pitt-Rivers and Ashmolean, Oxford, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Cambridge (where the Horace Beck collection is kept, though not displayed)
The British Museum, The V&A, The Petrie collection at London University, the Glass museum in Stourbridge, and then many more in regional museums such as Whitby, etc.

i'm sure you will discover more of interest whichever way you choose to go!

happy hunting
Stefany