My Potterton Profile suffered this problem until just before Christmas. The fan would run and the pilot light light and then it would sit there - festering - unchanging for anything from 5 minutes to 2 hours before it decided to fire up. It behaved a little better once it had warmed up but was really bad starting up from cold.
It turned out (on my boiler) to be a weak pilot flame not getting the sensor hot enough to let the PCB sense the flame being alight. The solution was to dismantle and clean the pilot injector - I also bought a new one for about £35. The pilot flame is now big and beefy and the spark electrode glows bright red (it was never red before).
While I was messing with it I took the PCB out and tidied up a few dodgy looking joints - just in case. Instructions on how to take out PCB here....
http://kaijaks.co.uk/blog/nick/2008/02/10/dodgy-old-boiler
...and much of this originates from this site. Ignore any warning sign on the PCB that says warranty void if seal broken - you warranty will be long expired... Helps confidence to take digital photo before removing circuit board but not essential.
Good luck...
Peccavi
February 2009