Wow, you guys in the UK sure have it better then us guys in the U.S. I could only dream of making UKP20000 per year!!! Right now I'm making less then $10000 per year!! And yes, I work for one of the big Florida flight schools (but I'm planning on changing that sometime in the near future).
I didn't intend on becoming a flight instructor when I started flying, but had no choice but to become one (like most other pilots). But after a year of doing it, I've come to enjoy the job and the people I work with and train. And due to the current hiring climate, I'm going to have to work this job for at least another year and a half. So I'm moving to a flight school elsewhere in the country (at least trying to) that treats instructors a little more like human beings and pays more then $10 an hour, and guarentees more flight time. I still have my dignity, just a shame the flight school is going to lose one of it's experienced instructors. But they don't seem to care...as long as they can replace me with a "yes man" that will work for $10 an hour and work only 10 hours a week, they think they're better off!
Yes, I've had a bit to drink and I'm rambling a little incoherently....but I'm still sticking to the spirirt of the thread :-)