HGT
.....also started my ATPL's so spent a fair bit of money
I'm genuinely sad to hear that you didn't get the Class 1 and I hope you can find a "fix" but at the risk of sounding unsympathetic probably the most frequently offered advice to those thinking of starting ATPLs, etc is:
"get your Class 1
before starting training".
What other ways can I become a commercial pilot? FAA Route? Other places within Europe?
You have to be realistic. Having the required acuity of vision isn't a trivial arbitrary hurdle put in place by the authorities to trip you up, it's fundamental requirement to doing the actual job safely ( not your safety so much as the safety of fare paying passengers). I think LookingForAJob put it very well:
the medics in the CAA would fall over backwards to try to find a way to enable a licence holder to keep their medical certification. On the other hand, someone who only marginally meets the medical standard at initial application, and particularly if the criterion in question is likely to deteriorate with age, would probably not be granted a medical for a professional licence. I very much doubt that this would be written down or that anyone would admit to it officially but if you think about it objectively it makes some sense - rather than to cause greater disappointment, after great expense to get a licence, by decisively failing a medical check soon after.