Thanks both for your advice, much appreciated. I am pretty young and untied to any location, so now seems like a good time as any to try a career in lighting, with my degree to fall back on should things not work out.
Something similar to this is my long term goal. If nothing else, the last few years have taught me that diversification is key, so earning an income from both lighting and freelance software dev would suit me well.
I am a bit out of the loop at the moment, but imagine that I should be angling towards production companies who offer both dry hire and comprehensive production packages as these will have the size and scope to hire someone like myself?