It takes a leap of faith to uproot yourself from a comfortable career working with a large company to set up a small business.

But it was a move Lisette Cook (pictured right) felt compelled to make after 18 years in middle management with telecommunications giant BT.

She felt she had a lot of experience to offer others and, after taking voluntary redundancy, she enrolled on a coaching course with Coaching and Mentoring International.

While there, she met Paula Richardson, also an ex-BT employee, and once the pair had completed the course and gained their credentials, Ms Richardson came up with the idea of starting a new company, Positive Coaching.

Through contacts, two more people, John Priestley and Julie Standen, have been recruited and Positive Coaching now has bases in Lancaster, west Oxfordshire, Bristol and Winchester.

Ms Standen specialises in lifestyle coaching, helping people with their diet and general wellbeing, while the others are business coaches, dedicated to helping companies and individuals solve their own specific problems.

Ms Cook, who is based in Clanfield, West Oxfordshire, said: "We are each dedicated to doing our own thing but then bringing it back to the business.

"Ultimately, we want to do this together because of the potential and because of the structure of the business. We want to bring coaches in to work on our behalf."

Ms Cook wants to eventually work with large organisations and the public sector but, at the moment, she wants to build up as much experience as possible of working with businesses of all types.

Aware that coaching has attracted a few cowboys' who have tainted the industry's reputation, Ms Cook is keen to point out that not only is she and the rest of the team at Positive Coaching qualified, but their work will continue to be supervised by experts at Coaching and Mentoring International.

Once taken on by an organisation, Positive Coaching will identify the issues, talk to managers and then go to grass roots level.

Ms Cook added: "It is about personal development and finding out where the problems lie, such as a lack of motivation, confidence, or actual skills.

"We listen and ask the right questions and find out what is needed to address the situation. Then we would produce reports that prove the results that coaching has been delivering."

n Contact: Positive Coaching 0845 0940884, www.positivecoachingltd.co.uk