There are many cheaper techniques.
The sun is a source of UV (albeit uncalibrated, and possibly absent in your part of the world
). You can also try toner transfer (if you have a laser printer) or draw the circuit directly onto the board (with resist pens)
No need for a bubble etch tank. Just aggitate it manually and save yourself about £240 of that £250. For small boards, a plastic container (dedicated for the purpose -- around 2l capacity) and some rubber gloves is all you need. If you want to get really down and dirty, get a sponge and use it to wipe the solution over the board. It makes the process remarkably quick.
You'll also need to decide on the chemicals. Ferric Chloride is the traditional material, but it needs to be warm, and the reaction is strongly endothermic so it gets cold very fast. It also stains badly. There are other options, many of them are single use. Don't forget that most of these solutions will very happily eat steel, so make sure they are well diluted before disposal, and preferably disposed into plastic or ceramic drains, not via a nice stainless steel sink...
If you decide to head Ferric Chloride, don't let it boil. I have a college who tells a great tale of how corrosive boiling ferric chloride can be (it corroded the surface of everything metallic in a room)
