I should not even be on this thread, but, as an early retired and inconsequential Canadian, who flew numerous general aviation aircraft, and numerous airliners, mostly for charter operators (think britannia, monarch, and the like), long haul and short haul, big and narrowbody, and one asian national carrier doing long haul, I must say that being a pilot in the UK sounds awfully complicated. And yes, have flown into the UK numerous times, along with the rest of Europe. Just part of the job.
After a fair amount of outright bankruptcies, mass layoffs, and constant seasonal layoffs, it just so turned out that I had to get many new type ratings with the new employer, and all paid by the employer. So, none of this type rated requirement was going on. At the end of the day, it was just another airplane to learn. People of my ilk actually got fed up by going onto yet another course, just to fulfill employment requirements.
The two main carriers here, and, all of the American carriers, hire non type rated pilots all the time, and they provide all of the training. However, there are no cadet programs, people tend to have at the very least, 2000 to 5000 hours of flying time in anything that flies. Even if you had a type rating on one of their aircraft, it would mean little or nothing, since initial job awards are solely based on seniority driven openings.
I feel for you guys, aviation life in Britain sounds very hard...........
Cheers