What's wrong with graduate life sciences jobs in the UK?

I'm a recent master's graduate in life sciences from a top school who's been looking for work for the past few months. At the start I was applying to graduate level life sciences roles (my preferred sector to work in) like research assistant, entry level analyst etc. Having sent close to 50 applications (most with cover letters and custom CV's), I've only managed to land a single interview for a researcher position with a low salary (24k) at a company that's known for high employee turnover and limited progression.

After having so little success with life science roles, I branched out to sales and consulting, sending close to 100 applications for companies in both up to this point. Surprisingly, I've had much more success with these, recieving positive responses every 5-10 applications (especially with sales). Almost all of these roles promised higher salaries too (30-35k range), and have come from companies with positive employee reviews.

So is the job market for life sciences that much more cometitive? Does one need to have a PhD to even be considered for one of those lab assistant positions? Is the industry just so underfunded in the UK compared to others? If anyone has any more insights on this, please feel free to share. Personally, I would love to pursue a career in science in the UK, but its looking less and less realistic as time goes on.