That worked almost, it just needed a small modification. Setting the hash method to none and leaving the hash key blank gives this error message at checkout...
You have to configure a hash on the Beanstream plugin payment parameters first
...What worked was setting the hash method to none and leaving the original hash key in place (I'm guessing any string would do as long as something was there). After that things worked as expected, was able to do a live transaction, returned to the site with the correct thank you message, cart contents were cleared, emails sent, Hikashop admin shows the order as confirmed, Perfect!!
As I said initially I was assuming this was an error at Beanstream's end, and it looks that way. There must be a difference between the developer account and a live one. Have been in touch with them, will make them aware of the hash key problem.
Thanks for your help.