If you look at the CAAs statistics page you can see up to a 75% reduction in licence issues over 21 years. With more airfields under threat then numbers of potentioal students could drop further. Under the old CAA regime there was a natural progression from PPL instructor to IMC and then Multi-Engine but with increased experiencec requirements from EASA, costs have escalated and there is no easy way to progress from PPL FI to Commercial FI. It was all totally predictable, but aviation is now run by safety managers, not people with relevant experience.