Neil,
I've never worked for Cabair, but can assure that they were not trying to con you. You are one of the many people who have travelled to Canada, New Zealand and Australia and then discovered (too late) that the UK CAA will not recognise your licence (though they will give credit for half the hours you flew whilst gaining it to count towards the 150 you need for your UK commercial). It should be a warning to other would-be commercial pilots from UK seeking cheap training overseas to attend a schoool such as HAI (for whom I have also never worked, so I have no self-interest here) where it is possible to get a UK or JAA licence.
Have you thought of approaching a company like Bristow? They used to have an ab-initio training scheme and although it is now defunct, if you catch them at a time when they are in the market for new copilots they may offer you something. However, this will also probably consist of going to HAI in USA and signing a training bond - but at least you'd have a guarantee of employment with a large operator, with a reasonable salary at the end of it. Once you'd got a few years in with them you could apply to go to one of their overseas operations or look for employment elsewhere. I don't think they're hiring at the moment, but it would probably be worth sending your CV to Scotia in Aberdeen as well.
Good luck.
