what sort of wages are available outside of major airlines?
Instructing around £15k a year, they keep you self employed, which has a lot of downsides, but it also means that you can claim a lot of stuff as expenses and pay a lot less tax.
Small turboprop outfit would start at anything from £21,000-£26,500, plus duty pay on top.
Is there a living wage to be had outside of a Captaincy on a big shiny jet?
Absolutely.
are there specialist companies who offer loans for training or do i need to speak to my bank manager?
There used to be. HSBC used to do a great deal, but they got burned by too many people not getting jobs and declaring bankruptcy, so it's all gone wrong I'm afraid. You can typically get £25k unsecured, no questions asked, but you'll have to fund the rest yourself.
In this industry it's far more about who you know than what you know. If you want to get into a decent turbo prop outfit, or into biz jets, it's all about contacts. I myself work for a very decent turbo prop outfit, and the interview was about 20 mins long with no technical questions, as I was already known to them through networking. So you've got to take the gamble on your own charisma, and ability to make the right contacts at the right time, and potentially move anywhere in the country/world to make your dream come true.
Noone will come knocking on your door offering you a job next door.