Everyone - thanks very much for the advice. Really appreciated!
Flingwings - that's pretty much the stage I'm at. Going for a CPL was a risk, the risks of the next step I'm trying to minimise as much as possible, but it's reached the stage where I've got to go for it one way or the other. Hence this thread today! I guess I should be grateful I at least have a job I can fall back on if this doesn't go as planned. No I'd prefer not to be paid to fly VFR only after paying for an IR. But that's infinitely better than not being paid at all after paying for an IR
Bravo_99 - thanks for the comments! I'll message you now in a second
TheFlyingSquirrel - you just made up my mind!