Hi Phillip,
I think Andy made some good points. I'm in a similar situation to him i.e. secure job with a big company (BT). I can fully understand your dilema, I enjoy my job, but I don't feel my full potential is being used, the easy thing to do is to stick at what you are doing, the harder thing to do is to take the risk and try something new. I'm trying to do that at the moment within BT.
On another note, I know all the guys that do ADSL for BT around that area, so theres your first local contact if you decide to take it
Good luck.
Cris.