Spain and Switzerland are the latest branches of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

The UK-based EMCC works to promote good practice in coaching and mentoring and the council's membership and marketing committee chair Charles Brook said he hoped more branches would follow.

"The new groups in Spain and Switzerland are, we hope, the first of many," he said. "They've been set up by local coaches and mentors who understand the importance of working together to share best practice and drive the industry forward and we know there are similar groups in other countries who are looking at doing the same thing."

The founders of the two new groups hope they will make a real contribution to the industry in their countries and are planning to fly the flag for higher standards at events in their own countries this autumn.

Swiss president Georg Michalik said: "We see EMCC Switzerland as an organisation that brings people together to bring coach/mentoring forward. We'd like to promote highly agreed standards and proficiency in coaching and mentoring - and we'd like to have our members on that level and committed to this vision."