What would be the easiest way for me to integrate Bitcoin payment into these businesses? I have seen various services such as BitPay but don't know if any of them are recommended over any others. In some ways it seems like these guys act as a "middle man" which kind of defeats some of the benefits of using Bitcoin, if you ask me - is there a simple way to set it up without having to use such a service? (A plugin or something similar which simply works out the currency conversion and then connects to my wallet).
Any ideas or help appreciated.
Join Coinbase. Are mainly a web wallet (with to many security measures) and lately even even a very successful exchange. They have an impeccable service for merchants. I am not an expert in such kind of things but know that to many of those collaborate with it (are more than 41 000 businesses work with them). I cannot tell if is the best choice for your case but I can tell for sure that it is worth to give a luck yourself and to evaluate using your eyes and your mind if it is good for you.