Had a Superlight before it was stolen, which was starting to outride in terms of travel, so looking at more travel, mainly XC but riding. My skills are developing but don’t want to lug weight around and die up the hills.
Then you definitely don’t want a Blood. If you want an Orange, try the ST4 – that sounds like it would be better suited for the sort of general XC/trail riding you describe.
There are absolutely loads of bikes that could fit the bill, however, so I’d suggest getting out there and trying lots before spanking £3k on something you might not like.
Lapierre Zesty, Trek EX8, Giant Trance, Specialized Camber or Stumpjumper, etc, etc, etc.