A COFFEE shop that opened to save a village post office is now the star of a Microsoft ad.

House Twenty8, opened by Sarah Fannon earlier this year, was recently filmed for an advertisement promoting Windows 8 – the new Windows compu-ter operating system.

Sarah said: “They wanted to hire House Twenty8 as a venue for the day, so we had the whole film crew here shooting the advert.

“I think one of the girls who worked at the film production company had been here and had recommended us to the art director who came down, looked at it, and said ‘yes that’s perfect for our video shoot’.”

When asked if she feels lucky to have her business picked for the advert, Sarah said: “I don’t think so because it’s so lovely – it does have that wow factor.”

And she is right, as a lot of thought has clearly gone into the design of House Twenty8, which sells an impressive range of teas and coffees, dairy free milk shakes, hot paninis and ciabattas.

“I’d like to call it a very upmarket coffee shop. We have also got a huge range of gluten free cup cakes which are made in the village. It’s about supporting the village and at the same time creating job opportunities,” said Sarah, who employs 10 people.

She acquired the property in Reading Road, Sherfield-on-Loddon, earlier in the year – which was in serious danger of closing as a Post Office – and embarked on a major refurbishment, transforming the interior.

In fact, there are three sides to the business, as there is a gift shop selling seasonal gifts.

And so far, the reaction from villagers has been very positive and the viability of the business is looking very promising.

"The different parts of the business have to support each other,” said Sarah, whose two sons, Harry, 16, and Lawrence, 13, help out in the business during weekends.