I had my hood replaced by Croydon Soft tops about 3 years ago and asked him to put in the side pockets after reading the TIS in the workshop manual. Mine is a 1999 pre-facelift so would have had the modified hood fitted at the factory.
The side pockets are intended to reduce rub marks by allowing the hood to fold better. The hood is a good fit and keeps the water out nicely, however, the rub marks are appearing again so the side pockets are not fully effective. There are other mods to the hood bars and stiffeners above and below the window in the TIS. The latter are not fitted by the guy in Croydon (I don't know if Jack Smith fits them) so the rear screen can crinkle a bit when folding which requires extra care to avoid.
A further small mod on the Croydon hood is that the "gutter" area above the window is extended very slightly to help divert rain from the top of the window.
I would suggest you wait until Silverstone and have a look around a a few of the cars with replacement hoods, then decide what would be best for you.
