Lemon Eucalpytus Oil OLE aka PMD seems to repel them - not 100% (the only 100% is DEET but as others have said, it is very bad stuff unless you are going to the jungle/malarial areas, I'd avoid) but they don't like it, I add it to my suncream and it smells nice AND pisses most biteys off...I had other issues when camping over the last few weeks with blundering into plants that caused nasty rashes (poison ivy? Does that exist in the UK?) but never got bitten. I also have eczema so DEET is like kryptonite to my skin, causes crawlies and lots of scratching.
There are alternative sprays you can get at Boots/Superdrug that don't have DEET - PMD which is based off OLE.
Not tried Skin So Soft but heard it doesn't work anymore, they changed the formula. Will try Pine and Tar soap.