Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply - bit of a mixed bag!
Yes I'd be willing to relocate for a job and I have a very supportive partner that is 7 years my junior so I have a bit of time on my side too.
My plan would be to do the CPL and then a flight instructors course as Helicentre apparently recruit all their flight instructors. After that I'd hope to build hours for a year and then apply for any job I could get. My ideal would be SAR.
What I found really surprising is the poor salary for flight instructors. Starting on £24k p/a is less than what I was on as a graduate! They quote that salaries for first job start around £60k p/a for most jobs in multi-crew. Is this correct?
I'd also be interested to hear more about helicentre's reputation. Can anyone expand on that please?
Many thanks