This is done free of charge if you have an existing PPL licence.

These are marketed directly but also through channels like intotheblue.co.uk as I happened to notice today, and I also notice it markets the flights from eg Rochester as well.

Pilots need a Flight Radiotelephony Operator's Licence (FRTOL) so they can legally make calls on the radio in their aircraft. If your Flying School doesn't have a Radio Instructor/Examiner, you can find one via the CAA, here:
https://www.caa.co.uk/our-work/publications/documents/content/cap1585e/ 

You operate the Radio in your training aircraft under the authority of your Flying Instructor. Once you qualify, you need your own FRTOL to legally operate the same piece of kit.
On the upside, submit your initial PPL(G) application WITH your FRTOL application and you save yourself a few bob.

I attended a Radio Brush-Up Course at Popham last night, specifically aimed at dusting off the grey cells of long-time pilots who don't get out much. Even if you do get out a lot, CAP413 gets updated periodically, so it's useful to check-in with a Radio Instructor to (as it says on the tin) brush-up your skills.

The Instructor told us the CAA had recently carried out documentation spot checks on pilots arriving and departing Popham. Their Enforcement Branch take a dim view of anyone flying without a FRTOL. They won't be too impressed with un-Permitted aircraft or un-Licenced Pilotes, either, but that wasn't the subject of last night's meeting.

We were joking amongst ourselves last night that some of the radio calls we hear are shoddy and you wonder if the voices you hear are actually qualified. 5 minutes later, our Radio guy said he'd recently coached a long-standing Flying Instructor through a Course and Exam to gain his FRTOL. He'd been flying and instructing for many years without one.

Every day's a school day.

If you're very lucky, your school may allow you to rent your training aircraft after you qualify so the process of continuing to fly will be seamless. 
School aircraft are expensive to buy and run and the opportunity cost of you renting the aircraft is a lost hour of training revenue.
So you may find yourself having to find another aircraft to fly.

Do you buy your own aircraft? buy into an existing syndicate? setup your own syndicate?
Regardless of your decision, you might want to consider the actual cost of running your aircraft once you've bought it (or bought into a syndicate).
Top tip: once you've worked out the cost, don't tell your missus!

When I qualified as a PPL(G), my school decided they weren't making enough money from running the aircraft and were going to sell the gyro.
It was listed for sale on afors.com (check out https://afors.com/autogyros/for-sale/United-Kingdom ) and I was left with the choice of buying it/giving up/finding another aircraft to fly.

I knew The Management wouldn't sign-off on me buying the aircraft outright but, if I could find another pilot willing to start a syndicate, maybe I could become a joint owner and find a way to run it sensibly so we wouldn't find ourselves having to stump up chunks of cash for unexpected expenses.

Long story short, I bought the aircraft with Gary 9-Fingers (G-9F to his mates) and we lived happily ever after.

Helpfully, the school gave us a spreadsheet similar to the attached, which laid out the ongoing fixed and variable costs we would need to cover.
HSBC were offering a Community Account to groups of individuals setting up clubs. Perfect!
We setup the Echo Whisky Operating Account, paid in enough cash to buy the aircraft and, importantly, left a large enough balance to cover the costs we might expect in the next few months. The first of which was a couple of jerry cans each.

Based on an estimate of how many hours the two of us expected to fly each year, we divi'd the total expenses and agreed an hourly rate we'd each credit to the account as we flew the aircraft. And we setup standing orders to cover hangarage and insurance during those months we weren't flying.
Debit cards on the account enabled us to fill our jerry cans so we'd always arrive at the airfield with enough fuel to go flying and to leave an agreed level in the tank.

Six years later we sold the aircraft. Not because we fell out, but Gary was not flying and I wanted to buy a new training aircraft.
Our hourly rate had included an allowance for the big ticket items (a new engine) we might have to buy as we racked-up the hours, so we'd accumulated a healthy Sinking Fund which made up the difference between the purchase price and our selling price. We each walked away with the same chunk of money we'd contributed when we originally bought the aircraft.

You hear horror stories of syndicates that don't work. Make sure you go into this process with your eyes wide open. Be mindful of the frequency and magnitude of the costs involved and, if you are setting up a syndicate, get everyone to sign-up to a Syndicate Agreement (think of it as a pre-nup).

Gary and I arranged all of this over a spreadsheet and a handshake. And I count myself very lucky still to call him my friend.

Ownership is a big subject and the above barely scratches the surface.
Don't hesitate to comment on this post and maybe we can start a discussion that will benefit the rest of the BRA Community.

Regards,
Clive

If anyone ever needs a trailer on loan by all means give me a call on 07841 870568