Univ of Staffordshire UK - Distance Learning

[MisterE]

I'm currently looking at distance PhD programs and the part-time option here looks very interesting.  

I am not looking to kill myself with classes again on top of a (more than) full time job, but taking the step into the next degree level is something I am interested in.  I get a yearly education reimbursement from my company and if I don't use it, I lose it.  Fortuitously enough, the yearly cost for this part-time program fits nicely under the dollar cap for that, so I could essentially get this for no out of pocket expense.

A couple of questions though (if anyone knows):

1. Has anyone here had experience with Staffordshire University? 
   
2. Are they a fully accredited institution (from a UK standpoint)?
   
3. What is their reputation (Good, Bad, Meh, or Ugly)?
   

Thanks a lot in advance.

1. I went to Staffordshire University in the mid to late 1990s to do my Batchelors, back when tuition was paid for by the government. It was a perfectly respectable university, with a pretty good quality of teaching. It's in Stoke-on-Trent, which is an awful town to live in (it was bearable when I was a student due to the large student union with very cheap beer, which is all I was really interested in back then), but if you're doing distance learning, then that doesn't matter.  I can assure you it's a real place, I lived in Leek Road halls for two years, and I was treasurer of the Parachute Club.

2. All UK universities are accredited by the UK government, 'university' is a protected term and you aren't allowed to call yourself a university without permission from the government.

3. I thought is was pretty average when I applied, as I didn't do very well in my A-levels (undiagnosed ADHD). I ended up doing a slightly obscure course and almost everyone else on it had A's at A-level, and it was their first choice of university.

Also I should point out that this isn't really a Master's AND a Doctorate, this is the same with most UK research doctorates, you can either attain the MPhil and then drop out of the course, or go on to complete it and get the full PhD, it depends on how well you do at it, or how much time you want to spend on it.

Nobody calls themself an MPhil AND a PhD, if you complete the course, you just call yourself a PhD.

Thank you.  

I'm just interested in the full PhD program so the extra MPhil along the way is neither here nor there.