Please encourage your friend to buy direct from a breeder, not from a petshop/garden centre/ internet dealer. Most of these tortoises are wild caught or Captive famed in Slovenia at best and have had a very traumatic journey over to these shores as as a result most are ill and carry a high burden of worms and parasites.
There are many many excellent tortoise breeders here in the uk and many in the north west region
Here are a few links of some breeders lists
Breeders List
UK Tortoise Breeders - Tortoise Protection Group
***UK CB Tortoise Breeders List*** - Reptile Forums UK
Or of course there is always rehoming
Tortoise Trust Web - Adoption
also preloved, gum tree and slowcoach always have many unwanted tortoises for sale, but please be aware most of these came direct from the petshops etc and the owners followed the pet shop advice of keep in a viv with heat mat and feed salad and pellets, which is not the way to keep tortoises and many as a result have health problems and deformaties.
Please PM me if you need any advice reguarding the breeders