Ah, yes, the abbreviations...I remember that problem.
PPL(H) - helicopter private pilot's licence. You can fly, take passengers, but not be paid.
CPL(H) - helicopter commercial pilot's licence. You can legally be paid to fly. But no-one will give you a job unless you know the right people.
FI - Flight instructor. You first get an FI(R). That means it's restricted, ie you can only instruct under supervision. Getting rid of the restriction is hard, so there are loads of FI(R)s looking for work.
ATPL(H) - Helicopter air transport pilot's licence. Not sure how you get this; it used to be when you'd flown loads of hours, but that may have changed. You really, really don't need to worry about it now.
Ab initio - lit "from the start" if I remember my Latin correctly. Used by flying schools to mean they'll take someone who doesn't know one end of a helicopter from another, and teach them from there right up to getting...whatever.
Basically, to stand any chance of a job, you need a PPL(H) - around 50-70 flying hours; a CPL(H) - lots of exams and a 30 hour flying course; and an FI(R) rating - total of 250 flying hours altogether, plus a 30 hour flying course. Multiply all that by £250/hour (less when flying solo), add in a couple of thousand for exams, medicals, and ground school (written work) and you won't be too far off the figure needed to have any chance of getting a job. Subtract a bit if you're willing to work out the rigmarole of being VAT registered (you can claim it back in some circumstances), if you can go abroad to hour build (do lots of flying to get those magic hours), or you want to pay for some flying in advance and get a reduction (risky; flying schools go to the wall with monotonous regularity).
Right, now we're speaking the same language...what else do you want to know?