Admin Apprentice
Apprenticeship£15.6k
Typical range £15,600–£24,800
Cylfaa · Neuadd Mentro · Mentro's Hall
MenterEnterprise
This is the enterprise home of Cylfaa. It is for employers taking enterprise into a classroom, schools planning careers sessions, and students who want to know what the jobs are really like.
Mentro · Mentro's name means "to dare". She is the Mayor of Cylfaa, and she built the village with nothing but a question and the nerve to ask it.
Pack coming this term
Rydych chi yma · You are here
Neuadd Mentro in the village
Every path in Cylfaa starts at Neuadd Mentro. Each home is a sector of Welsh work, and every one began with someone daring to start something.
- Tŵr Codi Construction
- Melin Ynni Green Energy
- Gweithdy Lunio Manufacturing
- Tŵr Fflach Digital
- Fferm Arad Agriculture & Food
- Glan Atom Nuclear
- Neuadd Mentro Enterprise
- Gardd Lliw Inclusion & Green Skills
- Canolfan Iechyd Health, Care & Safety
- Y Salon Hair, Beauty & Wellbeing
- Cae'r Her Cylfaa Challenge
The skills gap
The gap Mentro is closing
Current figures for Wales, and North Wales where they exist. Every number links to where it came from.
246,500businesses active in Wales in 2025
More
99.3% are small or medium-sized (SMEs) and they provide 62.3% of jobs. 94.6% are micro firms with fewer than 10 staff.
Source: Welsh Government, March 2026
178,300people in Wales work for themselves
More
That is 12.2% of everyone in work in Wales (Apr 2025 to Mar 2026). Only about 1 in 3 is a woman, so there is room to grow.
724young people started up with Big Ideas Wales
More
Nov 2021 to Jan 2025. 245,966 under-25s joined Big Ideas Wales workshops and 3,332 got one-to-one business advice.
Source: Welsh Government, March 2025
Where employers are short
- Turning ideas into real businesses
245,966 under-25s joined Big Ideas Wales workshops, 3,332 got business advice and 724 started up (2021 to 2025). Confidence and planning close the gap.
Source: Welsh Government, March 2025
- Fewer people in Wales work for themselves
11.1% of workers aged 16 to 64 in Wales are self-employed, below the UK's 12.3% (Apr 2025 to Mar 2026).
- Women are under-represented in self-employment
Only 60,300 of Wales's 178,300 self-employed people are women, about 1 in 3 (Apr 2025 to Mar 2026).
- Money skills: pricing, profit and finding finance
About half of UK self-employed made under £11,000 profit in 2022-23, and only 28% of Welsh social businesses have attracted investment to expand.
Source: HMRC Survey of Personal Incomes 2022 to 2023, Oct 2025
- Young people need more routes into work
Wales's employment rate for 16 to 24 year olds fell to 49.4% in the year to Sept 2025, below the UK's 51.3%. Enterprise skills widen options.
Source: Welsh Government, Jan 2026
Jobs and pay
What the jobs pay
Six real roles, from a first apprenticeship to a degree route. Salaries are typical yearly pay, with the usual range.
Electrician
Apprenticeship£26k
Typical range £26,000–£45,000
How to get in
Marketing Exec
Digital Role£23k
Typical range £23,000–£50,000
How to get in
Accountant
Degree Route£30k
Typical range £30,000–£60,000
How to get in
Green Invest Mgr
Green Role£39k
Typical range £39,337–£44,274
Social Investment Cymru, North Wales based
Source: DWP Find a Job advert, June 2025
Self-employed
Entry Level£20k
Typical range £0–£100,000+
Avg profit, Welsh self-employed taxpayers
Welsh pay figures are used where they exist. Cards marked UK-wide or England use national figures because no Welsh breakdown was found. Apprentice pay uses the UK apprentice minimum wage from April 2026 unless an employer's own rate is shown.
Through every Byd
Green and digital in enterprise
Green and digital skills are changing every job in Wales, so every pack has a slide for each, written for this Byd.
Lliw's green path
Enterprise Can Power a Greener Wales.
Read more
Wales recycles more than almost anywhere on Earth. Waste is a resource: repair, reuse, refill and clean energy start-ups turn it into jobs and profit.
- 68.4%Wales's recycling rate, 2024-25
Second in the world, behind Austria. Every material we keep in use is a business idea waiting to happen.
Source: Welsh Government, Jan 2026
- 66%social firms rank climate as key
Two thirds of Welsh social businesses rate climate action high or essential. Over 7 in 10 have added green measures.
Source: Cwmpas and Social Enterprise Stakeholder Group, Oct 2025
- £20mGreen Business Loan Scheme
Development Bank of Wales loans for heat pumps, energy efficiency and waste solutions, available until 2028.
Source: Business Wales, Aug 2025
Fflach's digital spark
Your Phone Is Your Shop Window.
Read more
Many new businesses start online. Selling, marketing and admin that once needed a whole team can now be done with a laptop and the right digital skills.
- Online shops
Sell worldwide from your bedroom on platforms like Etsy, Shopify or eBay. You need good photos, fair prices and great service.
- Social media marketing
Instagram, TikTok and Facebook let tiny firms reach thousands of customers for free. Knowing your audience is a real, paid skill.
- AI tools for small business
AI assistants can draft emails, write product descriptions and plan posts. Owners still check the facts and keep their own voice.
- Cloud accounting apps
Apps like Xero, QuickBooks or FreeAgent track money, send invoices and help with tax returns. Every owner needs number skills.
Gemau Cylfaa · The Cylfaa Games
Play in Neuadd Mentro
Free games for students, families and classes. Presenters: they make a good last five minutes.
Job ExplorerFlip Mentro's job cards in Neuadd Mentro: what the jobs pay and how to get in.Which Owl Are You?Eight questions. Find out which home in Cylfaa is yours.
All the Cylfaa games
Routes in
Four ways in
Real courses and schemes at North Wales colleges, universities and employers.
Apprenticeship
Coleg Cambria runs Business Administration (Levels 2 to 4), Social Media and Digital Marketing, and AAT Accounting apprenticeships. Earn from £8.00 an hour while you learn.
College
Study at Cambria Business School in Northop. Big Ideas Wales runs free enterprise workshops with colleges, and Business Wales gives free one-to-one start-up advice.
University Degree
FdSc Applied Business Management at Coleg Cambria Northop, awarded by Swansea University, tops up to a BSc. Bangor and Wrexham universities also offer business degrees.
Higher / Degree Apprenticeship
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai offers Higher Apprenticeships in Management (Levels 4 and 5) and Business Administration (Level 4). Coleg Cambria offers AAT Accounting Level 4.
Employers in this Byd
- Development Bank of WalesWrexham
- M-SParcGaerwen, Anglesey
- Menter MônLlangefni, Anglesey
- Antur WaunfawrWaunfawr, Gwynedd
- Cwmni Bro FfestiniogBlaenau Ffestiniog
- Social Investment CymruRhyl
- Coleg Cambria Business SchoolNorthop, Flintshire
The pack · for employers
Walk into a classroom ready.
The enterprise pack is being built now and is coming this term. This is what will be in it.
What's in the pack
- The full deck with speaker notes · scripted, timed and ready to present
- A clean deck · the same slides without notes, for the screen
- A 25-minute version · for a tight assembly slot or form time
- Printables · role cards, myth busters, guess the salary, and activity sheets for Explorer (Years 7 to 8), Investigator (Years 9 to 10) and Strategist (Years 11 to 12)
- A run sheet and a feedback form · so you know what happens when, and the school can tell you how it went
Built for Welsh classrooms. Mapped to Curriculum for Wales and the Four Purposes, with Gatsby Benchmarks evidenced. Bilingual, Welsh and English. Neurodiverse-friendly by design. From September 2026, careers and work-related experiences are a legal requirement under Curriculum for Wales.
Log each session in Owl Impact® and it becomes verified social value evidence.
Register interest. Be first when it's ready.
Leave your details and we'll tell you the moment the pack is ready.
Cae'r Her · The Cylfaa Challenge: young people solve Wales's skills gaps themselves, and the winning idea gets funded and built for real.
Bring the Challenge to your schoolFor students and parents
Which Byd are you?
Real Welsh jobs in enterprise, what they pay and how to get in. The student pages for every Byd live here.
Explore your futureFind your Byd
Byd is Welsh for "world". Every home in Cylfaa is a Byd: a world of work. Join your school's team for the Cylfaa Challenge and send your Gofyn, your ask, to the Cylfaa panel.
Sources
Where the figures come from
Every figure on this page comes from one of these. Checked October 2026.
See all sources
- Welsh Government, Size analysis of businesses: 2025 (headline results) · 31 March 2026
- ONS Annual Population Survey via Nomis (self-employment, Wales and UK) · Apr 2025 to Mar 2026 (accessed Oct 2026)
- Welsh Government, Young Person's Guarantee highlight report March 2024 to March 2025 · 11 March 2025
- Big Ideas Wales, What we do · accessed Oct 2026
- Cwmpas and Social Enterprise Stakeholder Group, Social Business Mapping 2025 (via Business News Wales) · 24 October 2025
- HMRC, Personal Incomes Statistics 2022 to 2023 (Tables 3.10 and 3.11) · March 2025
- GOV.UK, Minimum wage rates for 2026 · rates from 1 April 2026
- Welsh Government, Development Bank of Wales £1 billion investment landmark · 18 November 2025
- Welsh Government, New stats show another increase in recycling in Wales · 29 January 2026
- Business Wales, Extra £10 million to support Welsh businesses on their journey to net zero · 20 August 2025
- Welsh Government, Labour market statistics (APS) October 2024 to September 2025 · 21 January 2026
- National Careers Service job profiles (electrician, marketing executive, management accountant, business development manager, business adviser, social media manager, graphic designer, hairdresser, community development worker) · accessed October 2026
- DWP Find a Job, Clean Energy Investment Manager, Social Investment Cymru · posted 9 June 2025
- Coleg Cambria Apprenticeship Guide · March 2024
- Coleg Cambria, Accounting apprenticeships · accessed October 2026
- Swansea University, FdSc Applied Business Management (Coleg Cambria) · accessed October 2026
- Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Management Higher Apprenticeship Levels 4 and 5 · accessed October 2026
- Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Business Administration Higher Apprenticeship Level 4 · accessed October 2026