| The Mini Centre - Preston
I've not dealt with them as such, altought they were helpful in steering me in the right direction when I had a query.
The firm is the Mini Centre on Broadgate, Preston (on the banks of the River Ribble).
They've been going for 37 years (now in 2nd generation of the same family ownership). They deal with classics and "Bee-ems".
Might be worth a try.
As for re-setting service indicator, I might have dreamt this but I thought I saw someone advertising this service on eBay. I guess a good non-franchised specialist should be able to do it.
Don't know about MINI, (I'm still pretty new to the brand) but I've never come across a main dealer that 'invents' jobs though. Sure, you pay top dollar for labour, but generally get a good job done by the experts with the proper tools and parts. | 
