Seeds of Death is by Brian Hayles. You're probably thinking of "The Space Pirates".
Actually I agree, The Seeds of Death is very good - though the Ice Warriors have less individual personality than in their debut, and come across as basically interplanetary gangsters rather than the noble warrior race, the direction is fresh and interesting as you say, and also the whole approach of the story is more matter-of-fact in its view of the future. The people who run T-Mat are just people doing their jobs - they go to work, they joke and flirt with each other - it makes it seem more everyday and normal than the usual depictions of future societies. Compare that with, indeed, The Space Pirates, which is all about wearing silly helmets and being self-consciously in the future - except for Milo Clancey, who's great.
