Thanks for all the replies and I've now received my STECS and Gladiator. For future reference, this is how it went for me. I ordered the items on June 14th. The STECS was in stock but the Gladiator was on Backorder. I made sure that I was fully registered with VKB before I ordered (wanted to avoid experiencing some for the VKB horror stories). When I made the order, the price was in Euros sans VAT. The order was now in Processing. They finally received a shipment on July 30th and on the 2nd of August, the order status changed to Completed. At the same time, UPS sent me a notification that they were going to pick up the package which happened on the 4th. The notification also included full tracking details. When the package arrived in the UK, I was sent another message asking for payment of import taxes/fees. They acknowledged receipt of payment and the HOTAS arrived on the 7th.
Notes:
Well worth registering with both VKB and UPS, making sure all address details were correct. (Some people on the forums hadn't done so and delivery didn't go so well).
Although I paid the import fees to UPS online, you can also pay the driver when they deliver.
Although the backorder delay was kind of irritating, I have to say the wait was worth it. The VKB Hotas is so above the Thrustmaster 16000 and TWCS in performance.
Thanks to everyone for their input, it's much appreciated.