I've recently changed my homepage from www.google.co.uk to http://www.google.co.uk/webhp?complete=1&hl=en and it's much better

Basically, it'll suggest common terms as you type, which will save you time and also give you a quick insight into which search terms are common (for your own SEO purposes).

It's available as an option on google.com but (for now) has to be reached by the URL above for .co.uk.