Its a difficult one, the hardest part knowing who to trust because everyone will want a piece of your pie without really caring about you.
for yourself, research. look on money site forums (moneysavingexpert etc), read some newspapers, get a feel for what is possible.
your bank should have 2 levels of finacial advisor, the general branch one and specialist ones for larger accounts. if so this is the chap you need to talk to, the former will be on a remit to sell you their products whereas the latter is there to talk about wider possibilities. if they can’t offer that, go to another bank. natwest offer this service, and indeed the chap i spoke to gave me the best advice of anyone.
personally (bring on the wrath of the stw massive for stating this) i would look to forming a property portfolio – depending of course what sort of access you need to the cash – although my gut feeling is that it is not yet the prime time to buy. for that extra consideration, talk to your acountant because as my chap says ‘there are lots of ways to write off tax liability in property’.
good luck though, its a minefield out there!