What bike to get?

Hello Josh and welcome to the forum.

I'm afraid at first you're only going to get questions rather than answers as some more detail is required. First question is: how far are you travelling? You can commute a couple of miles on pretty much anything, but longer distances may mean thinking more about the type of bike. If it will be all on the roads then a road bike will be fine, and if you are thinking of using it for weekend rides this is definitely the way forward. Plenty of people on here will tell stories about buying a hybrid/mtb and then pretty quickly moving on to a road bike.
Boardman and Specialised are both good makes. It's true that bikes from Halfords have a hit and miss reputation, so if you buy from them by all means have it checked over by someone if you're not too handy with a spanner. If you can locate a Specialized dealer then try before you buy (I don't think Halfords are too keen on this).
And don't forget to factor in purchasing things like lights, a pump, helmet (if you want one), a good jacket etc.

I recently bought the Boardman CX for commuting & I'm extremely pleased with it. Some Halfords branches have a poor reputation but I've had no problem with 3 different branches. Check everything yourself though.

IMO a CX is a more versatile bike than a hybrid. Nearly as quick as a road bike but very comfortable with wide tyres. Disk brakes & the extra brake levers with the Boardman CX give you confidence when riding through traffic.

CX bikes are popular for commuting & there are several options. Plenty of topics on the forum about this.

If you intend to do some long distance riding then don't go for a hybrid as the flat bars limit hand positions for long hours in the saddle.

You will likely need a rack and mudguards though so this cuts down your choices. As has been said before Halfords branches may be a little hit and miss but they do sell some decent bikes. Both Carreras and Boardmans are excellent bikes and great value for money. I have personally ridden over 20,000 miles so far on my Carrera Vanquish commuter bike fitted with a rear rack and full mudguards so unless I got the only good one in the world I would say that these are a very good bike.

If you want to stick with Spesh then your best bet would be to go with the Secteur range for their flexibility and comfort. The Crux may be an option but probably outside of your price range and will be a bit heavier.

There are a number of internally geared hub otption for under £1k. For a ultility bike they are hard to beat. I currently have Kona paddy wagon, it a drop bar single speed. I have often thought about rebuilding the rear wheel with a 5 speed sturmey archer hub.. the conversion would not cost much and it would be the ultity bike I use it as. A paddy wagon uses 28mm tyres and has sufficent clearance for mudguards. not available on the cycle to wrok scheme but could be done for less than you would spend on that anyway.

Also what about a touring bike. Rack mounts, mudguards, clearance for wide tyres and disc brakes again not on the cycle to work scheme. I think that scheme is quite restriuctive and pushes you down the route of buying bike the big names produce which is maybe not what you actually need. too many sport hybrids about these days.