Blackpool and Liverpool Helicentres are now run totally separately and are under different management. I don't know much about Blackpool, but Liverpool seemed well organised - they nearly gave me a job, but I spent too long actually getting my FI rating. Manchester Barton has Enstroms, an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your point of view, but more expensive than learning on an R22.
As for work, if you get 300 hours and an instructors rating, and like instructing, there's work around. You can hourbuild up to the 300 abroad, which won't cost as much as over here, and is loads of fun - I speak from experience. There's not a lot of work, and most of it is in the south of the country, so you'd need to be mobile. You won't make a fortune, but you can probably make a living. I'm older than you, only wanting to instruct part time as I have other work that I enjoy, but I could have got fulltime work, and age never came into it.
However, by the time you qualify, all of the above could change, for better or worse. This is not a reliable industry, never has been and never will be.